UK BARRISTER JAILED: It is 1st case in 800 years
A FATHER'S determination to prove his innocence has led to the jailing of one of London's top barristers.
The lawyer, Bruce Hyman, who is also a renowned TV and radio producer in the UK, is believed to be the first barrister to be convicted and jailed for perverting the course of justice in 800 years, reported The Daily Telegraph.
Hyman, 49, had sent a fake legal document to incriminate former Wall Street banker Simon Eades during a child custody battle last September.
Hyman, who was representing Mr Eades' ex-wife Ms Karen Sanders Young, sent Mr Eades an e-mail purporting to be from a pressure group for father's rights.
The e-mail, which was sent from what Hyman thought was an untraceable address, appeared to support Mr Eades' claim that he should be granted greater access to his 4-year-old daughter.
And when Mr Eades, who was representing himself, presented it in court, Hyman promptly accused him of forgery.
Court was adjourned and, faced with accusations that he was attempting to pervert the course of justice and the possibility of jail, the bewildered father returned home in a 'near hysterical' state.
He then set about proving his innocence.
According to the Independent, he told BBC Radio 4: 'I did some research on the Net about tracking e-mails and tracked the ones I had been sent to an Internet posting service in Manchester. They released the number of the Internet shop on Tottenham Court Road.'
Mr Eades phoned the shop and within hours, staff responded, saying they recalled a man who went to the shop that day.
SHOCK FIND
'He'd not bought anything but had asked to use their Internet services,' said MrEades. 'They then said they'd got him on CCTV and sent me some stills. I nearly fell off my chair.'
The CCTV footage showed Hyman entering the shop, removing a motorcycle helmet and sending an e-mail from a laptop. The footage led to his arrest.
In passing sentence, Judge Tom Crowther, QC, said Hyman was guilty of 'appalling professional misconduct'.
He also ordered Hyman to pay Mr Eades compensation of £3,000 ($9,000).
The court heard that Hyman, a father of four, was devastated after failing to achieve a chambers tenancy and suffered from depression which affected his judgment.
Meanwhile, Ms Sanders Young has lashed out at Hyman, once a close friend.
The 45-year-old, who was arrested as his accomplice, told the Daily Mail that she could not forgive his 'act of betrayal'.
'My arrest was probably the lowest point of my life,' said MsSanders Young, who has since been cleared by the court.
'I'd wasted more than £50,000 on legal fees and was already close to a nervous breakdown when Bruce pulled his act of insanity.'
She is now suing Hyman for legal misconduct.
source:
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/st...42607,00.html? 
CCTV catches lawyer sending bogus e-mail 
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