Former solicitor Phil Shiner, previously principal of Public Interest Lawyers (PIL), has been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment suspended for two years, by Judge Christopher Hehir at Southwark Crown Court.
Judge Hehir told Shiner: ‘You allowed your enthusiasm for your clients’ cases to get the better of your professional and personal judgment’.
Shiner pleaded guilty in September to three offences of fraud by failing to disclose information in 2007, namely failure to disclose that he obtained his Iraqi clients by using a fixer to engage in cold-calling and paid him referral fees. His firm secured nearly £200,000 in legal aid funds to bring judicial proceedings against the Ministry of Defence, later stayed due to the Al-Sweady Inquiry.
