Tank-chasing lawyer Phil Shiner reported to police by Tory MP for hounding Iraq heroes
Former Army officer has written to Met chief Sir Bernard Hogan Howe demanding they investigate the struck-off solicitor
DISGRACED tank-chasing lawyer Phil Shiner has been reported to the police for hounding Iraq heroes, the Sun can reveal.
Tory MP Johnny Mercer has written to the Metropolitan Police demanding they investigate the solicitor, who was struck off for dishonesty last week.
The former Army officer, who has led the charge against the flawed Iraq Historic Allegations Team (IHAT) says he did not make the decision to call in the cops “lightly”, but Shiner’s behaviour “simply cannot be right.”
Mr Mercer has asked Met chief Sir Bernard Hogan Howe to open an investigation to see if Shiner has “transgressed the boundaries of English Law”.
The IHAT investigations were set up in the last days of the Labour Government in 2010 to look into claims of murder, abuse and torture carried out by British troops.
But it was heavily criticised and more than 1,000 claims were dismissed, with Defence Secretary Michael Fallon announcing it would be closed this summer.
He said Mr Shiner made soldiers’ lives a “misery”, and the solicitors disciplinary tribunal found him guilty of a dozen misconduct charges during a shameful spree that saw him personally pocket millions.
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It comes after Labour’s legal chief yesterday said the fall of Mr Shiner was “sad” - and shouldn’t be used to spare British troops from the courtroom.
In astonishing comments, Shami Chakrabarti insisted he had done some “very good work”, and said it appeared the disgraced lawyer had simply “lost his way”.
The Shadow Attorney General – one of Jeremy Corbyn’s closest allies - insisted it shouldn’t be used as an excuse to lift European Human Rights rules imposed on the military – as demanded by Mr Fallon.
Speaking to ITV’s Peston on Sunday she said: “I think it’s very sad when a public servant who’s given very good service to the public, when their career ends in disgrace.”
“In the past Mr Shiner did some very good work that’s been upheld by a judicial inquiry.”
She added: “What I think is important is misconduct by an individual should not be used as an excuse to destroy everybody’s human rights.”
In response Mr Mercer had said: “Frankly Shami Chakrabarti’s opinion means nothing to me.
“But trying to retrospectively apply the European Convention of Human Rights to the battlefield demonstrates an almost childlike understanding of military operations.”
But last night Tory MP Tom Tugendhat wrote to the Labour peer demanding she distance herself from Mr Shiner.
The ex-officer told The Sun: “Baroness Chakrabarti has backed a man who lied to bring prosecutions against soldiers.
“If she wants to be chief legal adviser to the government, she should think about back the soldiers who risked their lives for us instead.”