The Tories’ shameful plan to grant immunity to soldiers who torture must be defeated
‘Johnny Mercer’s attempt to limit the rule of law and equality before the law is falling apart at home and abroad.’ Photograph: Kirsty O’Connor/PA
‘Johnny Mercer’s attempt to limit the rule of law and equality before the law is falling apart at home and abroad.’ Photograph: Kirsty O’Connor/PA
Sat 24 Apr 2021 14.00 EDT
How far towards rogue statehood can Britain go? As of now, the answer is that the government will offer a statutory presumption against prosecution after five years to members of the armed forces accused of murdering civilians or wounding civilians or committing any other war crime covered by the Geneva conventions. But it will not offer a pass to troops accused of sexually abusing or forcing confessions from civilians.
By Jemma Slingo2021-04-23T10:13:00+01:00
A former barrister and judge who was forbidden from working in law firms after being jailed for an Olympic Games bomb hoax has failed to overturn his ban.
Michael Shrimpton was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment in 2015 after being accused of communicating hoax bomb threats relating to the 2012 London games. During the course of a telephone conversation with government figures, Shrimpton is said to have claimed he had knowledge that a nuclear warhead had been planted in the London area for detonation during the Olympics.
Shrimpton was jailed after communicating hoax bomb threats
Source: REX/Shutterstock
By John Hyde2021-04-21T10:42:00+01:00
A law firm owner who secured £19m from litigation funders for mortgage refund cases which never went anywhere - then spent some of the money on office expenses – has been struck off the roll.
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal found that Roger Brian Allanson, a partner with now-closed Lancashire firm Allansons, gave the ‘very clear’ impression in marketing brochures that the only risk from the scheme was that there would be no profit.
He went on to receive more than 4,700 investments of £4,015 each, stating this was for the cost of a specialist litigation report. Allanson had also given the impression that investments would pay off within 18 months.
By John Hyde2021-04-20T09:36:00+01:00
A Newcastle solicitor whose fraudulent activity led to a three-year prison sentence has agreed she should be struck off the roll.
Madasser Hussain was banned following a one-day hearing where the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal heard details of her conviction in 2019. Hussain, admitted as a solicitor in 2002, was convicted of fraud and perverting the course of public justice at Newcastle Crown Court and released from prison last August.
The court heard that Hussain and her husband were involved with a takeaway known as Spice and invested a sum of money into the business. After she became involved in a dispute with the owners, alleging she and her husband were owed £60,000, they created false documentation for the purposes of placing a legal charge on the property to recoup the debt.