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Iraq lawyer Phil Shiner struck off over misconduct | |
(35 minutes later) | |
A human rights lawyer who brought abuse claims against UK troops after the Iraq War has been struck off for misconduct. | |
Phil Shiner, from the now-defunct law firm Public Interest Lawyers, had 12 charges of misconduct proved against him by a panel of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. | |
He had admitted acting recklessly by publicly claiming UK troops unlawfully killed, tortured and mistreated Iraqis. | |
The defence secretary said Mr Shiner had "made soldiers' lives a misery". | |
Michael Fallon told the BBC he was "delighted" that Mr Shiner had been "exposed". | |
"The decent thing for him to do now would be to apologise," he said. | |
In five of the charges found proved he was found to have acted dishonestly, including agreeing to pay "sweeteners" to a fixer, understood to be called Abu Jamal, to persuade him to change his evidence to the £31m Al-Sweady Inquiry. | |
The five-year investigation ruled in 2014 that allegations of murder and torture made against British soldiers by Iraqi detainees were "deliberate lies". | |
Mr Shiner previously admitted nine allegations of acting without integrity, including that he had made unsolicited approaches to potential clients. | |
He did not attend the hearing, having written to the tribunal to say he was unwell and could not afford to pay for a defence lawyer. | |
The tribunal heard in December that he accepted he would be struck off as a result of the case, thought to be one of the most expensive ever brought by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). | |
Panel chairwoman Nicola Lucking said: "We have come to the conclusion the appropriate sanction is a strike off." |