Lorraine Kelly: Shameless ‘tank chaser’ subjected British soldiers to a living nightmare

I wouldn’t normally rejoice in someone being hauled over the coals but in the case of Phil Shiner I am happy to make an exception.

He is the human rights lawyer who made a fortune by going after British troops serving in Iraq, costing taxpayers millions of pounds.

It’s been described as a 10-year witch-hunt by Shiner, who shamelessly touted for business.

The lawyer was branded a “tank chaser” for filing claims of murder and torture against British soldiers. He also paid a local “middleman” for cases he was able to come up with against our troops.

None of the accusations ever led to a prosecution. He forced far too many of our soldiers and their families to go through a living nightmare.

The troops had to live with the threat of being brought to trial hanging over their heads, even though they had done nothing wrong.

This week, Shiner was found guilty of misconduct and ordered to pay back £250,000 to cover the cost of the hearing.

He was also struck off.

His false lawsuits have finally been dismissed as “wholly baseless” and “calculated lies”, but I just cannot believe he was allowed to get away with it for so long.

Shiner’s accusations resulted in two massive, costly inquiries.

The ongoing Iraq Historical Allegations Team alone has cost us £57m while looking at more than 3000 claims against our armed forces.

Again, it must be stressed that not one case has been brought to trial.

Another five-year public inquiry cost £25m. Again, our soldiers were forced to endure allegations of heinous crimes.

It is shocking that Shiner leaves behind a mountain of human misery with careers ruined, lives wrecked and untold tears and suffering.

Imagine having such horrible accusations levelled at you or your family, and living under the shadow of possible prosecution year after year while not having any piece of mind.

Those soldiers had to somehow deal with the fear of a court case, possibly even a wrongful guilty verdict and a jail sentence, and all because they were simply doing their job.

Shiner wrote to the tribunal saying he was too ill to attended the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal hearing, but in his absence he was lambasted and totally discredited.

I honestly don’t know how he sleeps at night and I think he has got away rather lightly when you consider how those he accused have suffered.

Don’t forget that his firm earned £1.5m in legal aid. He should be forced to pay back every single penny.

There’s talk of his accusers now taking legal action.

Good luck to them in their quest for proper justice and shame on Phil Shiner.