How law firm drummed up cases against British troops: Agent paid to hand out questionnaires that were later turned into unsigned witness statements Questionnaires used as a basis for Iraqis to make claims against troops Details of the practice were withheld from investigation into the matter Fears Public Interest Lawyers acted against solicitors' code of conduct Firm has previously received millions of pounds in taxpayer-funded aid A law firm hounding British troops paid an agent to hand out questionnaires to Iraqi civilians as a basis for making claims against British troops, it emerged yesterday. They were turned into unsigned witness statements in the UK by lawyer Phil Shiner’s firm, which then lodged claims in court. Details of the practice were withheld from an investigation into the death of an Iraqi civilian shot dead by British soldier Richard Catterall. But after a Ministry of Defence complaint the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) will investigate the questionnaires as part of a wider probe into fears Public Interest Lawyers acted against the solicitors’ code of conduct. please log in to view this image A law firm hounding British troops paid an agent to hand out questionnaires to Iraqi civilians as a basis for making claims against British troops, it emerged yesterday. Above, British soldiers in Basra in November 2005 The firm, which has received millions of pounds in taxpayer-funded legal aid, has been under investigation by the SRA for a year. The Government has submitted several documents that came to light during the £200,000 Iraqi Fatality Inv.estigations (IFI) inquiry, including evidence an agent named Abu Jamal, later employed by the firm, touted for business, which is against the rules for solicitors In a witness statement, Fatima Dahesh, the grieving widow of Muhammad Salim, shot dead by former Sergeant Catterall in Basra in 2003, said Mr Jamal knocked on her door when she was a in a ‘severe grieving state’ weeks after the incident. He passed the case to PIL, which pursued it for more than a decade. Her statement, revealed in the Daily Mail, is the strongest proof so far that families were persuaded to make claims against UK troops. In the next few weeks the SRA may decide that PIL must face a tribunal, which could see lawyers being struck off or the firm fined. please log in to view this image Details of the practice were withheld from an investigation into the death of an Iraqi civilian shot dead by British soldier Richard Catterall (pictured) The watchdog is also investigating whether PIL used two further unnamed agents to hand out questionnaires, which omitted key questions such as ‘were other parties also firing in this incident?’. It is understood the MoD believes the questions were leading and yield partial information and are insufficient to launch an investigation. A government source said: ‘It is exactly this kind of behaviour that led us to press the SRA to investigate PIL in the first place. ‘But it can’t stop there which is why we are working up plans to put a stop to rogue law firms harassing our soldiers with spurious claims.’ More than 1,500 allegations of murder and ill treatment have been lodged by law firms. Colonel Richard Kemp, who commanded soldiers in Afghanistan, said he hoped the evidence against PIL would see Phil Shiner struck off ‘so he can no longer profit from the exploitation of British soldiers’. Tory MP Johnny Mercer, a former soldier leading an inquiry into law firms hounding British soldiers, said: ‘I fail to genuinely understand how we could make the lives of our individual soldiers who have served with courage and valour on operations any more difficult.’ Last week the IFI inquiry found Mr Catterall had acted in self-defence as any ‘reasonable, trained soldier’ would when he shot Mr Salim. Speaking for the first time since he was cleared, the 46-year-old said last night: ‘I’m just glad it is all over.’ Sir George Newman, the IFI inquiry’s chairman, found the case against Mr Catterall had relied on a document doctored to make it look like the British military was to blame. If the family had been given proper legal advice the claim against Mr Catterall, who was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, may never have been lodged, he said. what a bunch of spineless money grabbing ****s, name and shame close the firm strike off the solicitors , and stop them or their share holders ever opening another company, oh and pay back the money they stole
Stuff like this boils my blood. "Permission to shoot the insurgent who's about to throw a hand grenade at us, sir?"
Lawyers aren't particularly popular I'm guessing but these guys are the just the lowest of the low! Shameless beyond belief!!
