British Police pays Ibori’s lawyer, Gohil £20,000 for infraction

The trial of former Delta State governor, James Onanefe Ibori, in London developed a new twist at the weekend as the British Police paid his former counsel, Mr. Bhadresh Gohil £20,000 in an out-of-court settlement.

Gohil received the settlement from the Crown Prosecution Service after being unlawfully deprived of his liberty, over the Ibori case. The extraordinary payment is the latest turn in a legal case where the hunter has become the hunted as the Police investigators and British Crown prosecutors are now facing allegations of police corruption and a cover-up of key evidence.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) celebrated the story at the weekend, with a dispatch entitled “Ibori’s lawyer awarded 20 Pounds” … as British prosecution admits manipulation charge.

The payment to Gohil may be a direct result of the pressure the mainstream British media mounted on the London Metropolitan Police and the courts to ensure that allegations of injustice and court manipulation by Ibori’s lawyers are fully looked into so that the cherished British jurisprudence tradition is maintained.

Last week, the Police paid Gohil for an infringement committed last November. He was expected to be released then but less than a week before the release date, prosecution barrister, Sasha Wass, successfully applied for this to be revoked and Gohil was detained for three more weeks. So Gohil went to court and accused the prosecution of blatant lies to mislead the court.

Gohil, who has been seeking to have his convictions overturned since 2012, has been the target of an on-going smear campaign by the Met police and the Crown Prosecution to derail the appeal. His defence team had consistently claimed that the prosecution, by extending the detention and other acts, “manipulated dishonestly and acted in bad faith”. The prosecutors had been accused of misleading the Court of Appeal.

The Crown Prosecution Service on July 21, 2016 agreed to pay Gohil £20,000 in settlement of this one initial claim and to pay his legal costs, as he was unlawfully detained for 33 days. With this victory, Gohil’s team are now preparing wider malicious prosecution actions. His being paid indicates that the British Police recognizes wrong-doing on its path; and this confirms the bad conduct allegation Ibori’s legal teams had levelled against the Police. The police have set up an internal investigation into the allegations; its result will be ready by late August this year.