Last updated at 12:53 PM on 18th November 2011 Jailed: Munir Patel will serve six years in prison after accepting bribes to delete records of speeding offences A court clerk made legal history today as he became the first person to be jailed under new bribery legislation. Munir Patel, 22, used his privileged access to the court system to help more than 50 offenders avoid prosecution in exchange for sums of up to £500, Southwark Crown Court was told. He was today handed a three-year prison term for bribery and ordered to serve six years concurrently for misconduct in a public office. Patel remained impassive as Judge Alistair McCreath told him: 'It hardly needs saying that these were very serious offences. 'They involved a very substantial breach of trust. Your position as a court clerk had at its heart a duty to public confidence in it. 'A justice system in which officials are prepared to take bribes in order to allow offenders to escape the proper consequences of their offending is inherently corrupt and is one which deserves no public respect and which will attract none. 'The public would expect, and rightly expect, the courts to take strong action to protect and defend the integrity of the justice system.' Police believe Patel helped at least 53 individuals evade prosecution for driving offences by tampering with the system so their cases would effectively be dropped. He also advised on how to avoid being summoned to court while working in an administrative capacity at Redbridge Magistrates' Court in east London, on a salary of £17,978. For this he was paid a total of at least £20,000. Workplace: Patel misused his position as a clerk at Redbridge Magistrates' Court But the court heard that £53,814 in cash was deposited in his bank account while another £42,383 was transferred into the same account, both without explanation. Turning to those who escaped punishment because of Patel's actions, the judge said: 'This indictment represents misconduct which lasted well over a year and involved at least 53 cases in which you manipulated the process in order to save offenders from the consequences of their offending - fines, penalty points and disqualification.' Jailing Patel, of Green Lane, Dagenham, east London, the judge said there were 'no sentencing guidelines' with which to work, given that the case was the first of its kind under the new legislation. The defendant, who married just two months ago, mouthed 'Don't worry' to friends and family who packed into the public gallery as he was led from the dock. It was widely expected that the first case involving the much-heralded Bribery Act legislation, which superseded century-old laws, would involve a high-profile corporate case. The Serious Fraud Office had announced it would use the Act to pursue big companies and foreign businesses suspected of bribery. The law covers offering a bribe, passively receiving inducements, bribing foreign officials and failing to stop bribes on behalf of a company.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2063206/Crooked-court-clerk-took-500-bungs-wipe-motoring-offences-justice-computers-makes-history-person-jailed-Bribery-Act.html#ixzz1e4eyRkbk
Friday, 18 November 2011
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Crooked court clerk who took £500 bungs to wipe motoring offences from justice computers makes history as first person to be jailed under Bribery Act
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