‘Tank chasing’ lawyers paid thousands by Iraqi ‘war crimes’ investigators on the same day government slammed them
Disgraced Phil Shiner’s firm Public Interest Lawyers received a glut of payments a year after being reported by the MoD
LAWYERS were paid thousands by Iraqi “war crimes” investigators on the same day they were shamed by a minister, documents reveal.
Disgraced Phil Shiner’s firm Public Interest Lawyers received a glut of payments a year after being reported by the MoD for paying fixers.
It raked in £208,342 between January and July this year despite then-PM David Cameron ordering a crackdown on taxpayer-funded firms suing the MoD.
In January Armed Forces Minister Penny Mordaunt called them “the enemy of justice and humanity”.
But, on the same day, papers reveal the Iraq Historic Allegations Team paid Shiner’s PIL firm £6,817.
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In July alone, just before it collapsed, it received £27,233.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority announced on 12 January 2015 it was investigating claims the firm paid agents to drum up business in Iraq.
Last week Birmingham-based Shiner, 59, finally admitted paying a fixer willing to smear British troops, along with a string of other misconduct charges.
Tory MP and former Army officer Johnny Mercer branded the payments a “national disgrace”.
IHAT defended the “essential” expenses for PIL employees, who were interviewing “clients” in Turkey and Lebanon between March 2013 and January 2016.
An MOD spokesperson added: “They were judged necessary to effectively investigate the cases and were agreed before the SRA investigation into PIL began.”