Crime Solicitors

Three G4S employees have been referred for prosecution for contempt of court and forgery in respect of an appeal by an immigrant who was being deported from the UK.

The three had been giving witness statements during an appeal case, in which the asylum seeker claimed he would be tortured if he returned to his own country.

The officials were found to have been involved in “corruptly redacting” an official certificate. This had the effect of helping to support the case against the immigrant. G4S has now launched an internal investigation. One of the accused has left the company and the remaining two employees have been suspended.

The asylum seeker cannot be named for legal reasons. He was housed at Brook House Immigration Removal Centre in Gatwick, East Sussex. He alleged that UK officials refused to remove documents from his luggage, which he said would indicate that he was an anti-government sympathiser in his country of origin and his return would result in torture.

Mr Justice Mostyn in the High Court found that when the asylum seeker’s room was cleared of his belongings, the official certificate made reference to “various paperwork,”1 whereas the document produced in court by immigration removal centre staff had altered the details to omit any mention of paperwork. It took a request by the claimant’s immigration solicitors to the secretary of state before the original certificate came to light.

Forgery and providing false witness statements are serious crimes, and only last week an investigation was launched by the government’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) into the activities of G4S and Serco in relation to overcharging for electronic tagging services.

During last summer both companies sent bills for tagging offenders to the Ministry of Justice, however, they included people who were found to be either already back in prison, dead or overseas. This prompted a review into all the contracts that the government has with the two companies, which are worth around £1.5 billion per annum.

Criminal offences

No matter the scale of the crime, large or small, expert representation is the key to securing the best possible outcome. The experienced criminal lawyers in the Duncan Lewis Crime Department handle everything from road traffic incidents, which can be highly technical, to serious cases of murder and rape, which are dealt with by the company’s Higher Court Advocates.

Providing a prompt and effective service, the solicitors can represent clients at Appeal Courts, such as the Court of Appeal, Crown Courts, Magistrates’ Courts and police stations.

With a thorough knowledge of the criminal justice system and an excellent track record of case building, the Crime Department team can secure the services of high quality experts and assemble impeccable documentation, presenting top class evidence.

When a difficulty is encountered, even before an arrest is made, it is advisable immediately to contact Duncan Lewis to check your rights and how they can be protected. Crime Department solicitors can represent clients from the outset of a criminal investigation, making it easy to get expert help at the point where a case is at its most vulnerable.