Iraq ‘witch hunt’ lawyer loses degree

A DISGRACED lawyer who was struck off after hounding innocent British troops for more than a decade has been stripped of his honorary degree.

Phil Shiner made more than £1.6million by bringing false allegations of murder, torture and mistreatment against hundreds of soldiers over the Iraq War.

Earlier this year a disciplinary tribunal found he acted dishonestly, recklessly and without integrity and he was struck off.

The 60-year-old was the recipient of an honorary doctorate from the University of Kent in 2012 ‘in recognition of his contribution to public interest law’.

But the university launched a review after 12 misconduct charges were proved against him and yesterday it emerged it had decided to strip him of the honour.

Mr Shiner’s firm Public Interest Lawyers brought the majority of 3,380 claims investigated by Iraq Historical Allegations Team, which was established to examine abuses by British troops. Not a single case resulted in a successful prosecution.

In five of the charges faced by Shiner at the tribunal, he was found to have acted dishonestly, including agreeing to pay ‘sweeteners’ to a fixer to persuade him to change his evidence to the £31million AlSweady Inquiry. Mr Shiner previously admitted nine allegations of acting recklessly and without integrity.