Downfall of man who hounded our troops

FOR more than a decade, notorious ambulance-chasing lawyer Phil Shiner has made a fat living hounding British soldiers over spurious claims that they mistreated civilians while serving in Iraq.

He pocketed nearly £4million in legal aid from this grubby trade, pursuing a staggering 1,200 dubious allegations of criminality against our servicemen and women – making their lives a misery.

So the news that his company – Public Interest Lawyers – has gone out of business is a cause for celebration, not just within the military but to anyone who believes in justice. It means soldiers who are still the subject of claims can at last sleep easily and others no longer have to fear being falsely accused.

The closure follows a review of PIL’s shameful role in the Al-Sweady war crimes inquiry, which took five years and cost £31million. The inquiry chairman, former High Court judge Sir Thayne Forbes, said allegations made by PIL clients that they were abused by British soldiers were ‘deliberate and calculated lies’.

As a result, Mr Shiner was stripped of the right to claim legal aid, without which his firm crumbled. This is a victory for the Mail, which first exposed PIL’s shabby methods – including using local agents in Iraq to drum up business – and has long campaigned to bring an end to Mr Shiner’s shameless fleecing of the taxpayer to finance these witch-hunts.

Of course, society demands the highest moral standards from its armed forces and anyone failing to uphold them must be punished. But making false accusations of torture and even murder against men and women who risk all in defence of their country is simply beneath contempt.

Quite rightly, Mr Shiner’s case has now been passed to the National Crime Agency for investigation. If it can be proved he encouraged bogus claims – and therefore claimed public money under false pretences – he should be subjected to the full force of the law.