Iraq War False Claims Lawyer Declared Bankrupt

Disgraced lawyer Phil Shiner who brought false claims against Iraq War veterans has been declared bankrupt.

The solicitor was struck off in February after being found to have acted dishonestly in bringing murder and torture claims against British Iraq War veterans.

Investigations that originated from Mr Shiner and his firm Public Interest Lawyers (PIL) would be assessed and a decision reached over which cases should no longer be pursued, the Iraq Historic Allegations Team (IHAT) said.

Mr Shiner ran the now-defunct PIL, and 12 charges of misconduct, which he had denied or partially admitted, were found proved against him by a panel of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.

The Insolvency Service website states the 60-year-old was made bankrupt on Tuesday.

In five of those charges, he was found to have acted dishonestly, including agreeing to pay "sweeteners" to a fixer, understood to be Abu Jamal, to persuade him to change his evidence to the £31 million Al-Sweady Inquiry - an investigation into accusations of mistreatment of prisoners by British forces in the aftermath of a 2004 firefight in Iraq.

After he was struck off in February, the Ministry of Defence said it wanted to recover millions of pounds spent defending those claims.

It's paid out more than £100 million on legal costs and compensation linked to the war in Iraq - a large proportion of it over allegations brought by the now defunct PIL.

In addition, the Legal Aid Agency was demanding money back, while Mr Shiner was ordered to pay costs to the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

The recovery of those costs could now be a lot harder - with the Insolvency Service website saying Phil Shiner was declared bankrupt on Tuesday.

An MoD spokesman said: "The evidence we submitted on Phil Shiner's abuse of our legal system saw him struck off and, with his conduct discredited, we announced the closure of IHAT.

"We intend to recover as much as possible from defending these claims and await the Solicitors' Disciplinary Tribunal full decision before deciding our next steps."

PIL also brought the bulk of cases investigated by IHAT - due to close this summer - which was set up with a budget of £57 million.