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Jailed, the couple 'told to lie by Mr Loophole's company'...
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| A Millionaire couple have
been jailed after they lied to help their son avoid a speeding
conviction... on the advice of a firm of lawyers headed by the solicitor
'Mr Loophole'. |
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| Janet Lefton, 49, and her
husband, Harold, 51, contacted the firm after their son Jeremy was twice
caught speeding. The business is headed by Nick Freeman, who has
represented a string of celebrities controversially cleared of motoring
offences. |
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| They claim the solicitors
told them to deny having received the Notices of Intended Prosecution,
[NIP's] which arrived through the post at their mansion on Belle Isle, an
island in the middle of Lake Windermere, Cumbria. |
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| Jeremy, 21, was eventually
acquitted after magistrates accepted Mrs Lefton's claims. But the
lie was exposed when police discovered that the Notices of Intended
Prosecution had arrived... and all three Leftons were arrested. |
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| Last month Mrs Lefton and her
son both admitted perjury at a hearing at Cardiff Crown Court and both
parents also pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice. All
three were jailed for three months. |
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| Mr Freeman, whose firm has
represented Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, former England
captain David Beckham, snooker star Ronnie O'Sullivan and golfer Colin
Montgomery, is on police bail after being arrested on conspiracy to
pervert the course of justice in November last year. |
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| It is unclear whether his
arrest is linked to the Lefton case. The Lefton's convictions came
to light yesterday when their lawyers went to the Court of Appeal in
London to try to have their jail terms cut. Three judges ruled that
the sentences were 'manifestly excessive' and agreed to 21 days for Jeremy
and six weeks each for his parents. |
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| The hearing was told that
university student Jeremy, who lives in Manchester, was twice caught
speeding on camera in Wales in May 2005. Notices of Intended
Prosecution were sent to his home in Windermere and were opened by Mrs
Lefton, who contacted Freeman and Co for advice. |
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| Mrs Lefton, a former lawyer
and the daughter of the founder of Swinton Insurance, claimed she was told
by the solicitors to do nothing but, if further Notice was received, to
write to say she had not received the original Notices. Lord Justice
Gage, sitting with Mr Justice Burton and Judge Stephen Stewart, QC, said a
letter was indeed sent to the police by the couple. |
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| 'It misrepresented the
position by saying the originals had not been received. It falsely
suggested [Jeremy] had no recollection of who was driving and falsely
implied that others could have driven.' Jeremy was convicted in his
absence by magistrates, but they agreed to review the case. |
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| Last year, Jeremy and his
mother attended court for another hearing. Mrs Lefton was
unexpectedly asked by Jeremy's solicitor to confirm that they had never
received the documents. She duly did, effectively committing
perjury. The scam unravelled after the family applied for defence
costs and police examined the issue further. |
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'Lost their good
character' |
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| Lord Justice Gage agreed to
cut their jail terms after accepting that the couple had acted on advice
of the solicitors. 'By their actions, all three have lost their good
character and severely damaged their reputation,' said the judge.
'They are genuinely remorseful for what they have done.' |
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| A man who answered the door
to the Lefton's second home, in Mayfair last night refused to
comment. No-one was available for comment from Freeman and Co. |
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| It seems like their are a few
lessons to be learned from this fiasco... |
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- If you decide to lie... your could
lose a lot more than you stand to gain.
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- Even if you get expensive legal
advice... you could still find yourself in trouble if you don't get
your story straight.
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- If you say that other people could
have been driving your car... make sure there really are some people
who could have legally been behind the wheel.
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- Try not to involve anyone else in your
story. They might contradict you... and you might get them into
trouble as well.
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- Take as many precautions as possible
to make sure you don't get a Ticket in the first place. [See
Article, Living
with Speed Cameras.]
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- If you get away with it... carefully
consider whether you want to push your luck even further by trying to
claim back your costs.
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