Lawyers hounding UK troops ‘paid Iraqi £75k to trawl for victims’
A LAW firm hounding British troops with compensation claims from Iraqis paid at least £75,000 to a Basra agent who brought them business, it was claimed last night.
Abu Jamal, 59, was allegedly given £25,000 in December 2008 and £50,000 in March 2009 for handing clients over to Leigh Day in a practice that is banned.
The referral fees were approved by the boss of the firm, Martyn Day, and his colleague Sapna Malik, according to evidence obtained by the solicitors’ watchdog and handed to a tribunal – which yesterday decided there was a case to prosecute the firm and the two lawyers.
Some 19 charges were brought against them yesterday. If found guilty, they could be struck off and fined tens of thousands of pounds.
The prosecution is a victory for the Daily Mail, which has long campaigned to stop the witchhunt against British soldiers.
Evidence published yesterday by the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority said that after making the two payments, the lawyers entered into an ‘ improper agreement’ with a person known as Z – Mr Jamal – from March 2009, continuing to pay him banned referral fees. Mr Jamal was also awarded ‘contingency fees’ for successful out- comes, which are also banned.
The lawyers are also accused of ‘deliberately’ hiding the fact they had breached the code of conduct by paying Mr Jamal and of failing to report ‘serious misconduct’.
The allegations also referred to a key document Leigh Day shredded that could have stopped the AlSweady inquiry into accusations against our troops – and saved taxpayers £31million. Leigh Day had failed to declare a list that showed detainees they were representing were insurgents and not villagers.
The inquiry found the most serious claims against UK soldiers were ‘wholly without foundation’.
Last night Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said: ‘These are extremely serious charges. Every day our armed forces show bravery and dedication in difficult circumstances. They shouldn’t be subject to unfounded legal claims.’
The allegations against Leigh Day came after a year-long investigation into their alleged dodgy practices.
The Mail previously revealed how Mr Jamal has a lavish lifestyle in Basra after handing 1,000 claims of alleged mistreatment of Iraqis by our troops to Leigh Day and another firm, Public Interest Lawyers. He was also paid £40,000 a year by the Ministry of Defence to gather evidence and ferry around witnesses.
The Mail tracked down Mr Jamal to his office in Basra, southern Iraq, where his son said they were getting up to 20 new clients a week.
A Leigh Day spokesman said their legal team was reviewing the evidence on which the charges were based, adding: ‘It would not be appropriate for us to comment further.’