Ex-UK lawyer pleads guilty to fraud relating to Iraq abuse claims

LONDON: A former British lawyer who became known for bringing lawsuits on behalf of Iraqi civilians accusing British soldiers of ill-treatment pleaded guilty on Monday to fraud, Britain’s National Crime Agency said.

Phil Shiner, 67, pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud relating to applications made in 2007 for public funding for legal action against the Ministry of Defence, the agency said. Following the legal challenge led by Shiner, Britain launched a public inquiry into allegations of atrocities by British troops in 2004, after a battle at the Danny Boy checkpoint in southern Iraq.

Shiner and his firm Public Interest Lawyers, however, were widely criticised and the inquiry ultimately concluded in 2014 that allegations British soldiers executed captured Iraqi prisoners and tortured or seriously abused others were untrue.

The charges to which Shiner pleaded guilty related to his failure to disclose, when applying for public funding, that he had asked a middleman to approach potential claimants and had paid for referrals, which breached his firm’s contract, the NCA said.