First Bribery Act prosecution
The first confirmed prosecution under the Bribery Act has been announced and it’s not they type of prosecution many anticipated.
Most small business and individuals still believe that the Act isn’t likely to impact on them and that it is intended really to be a “stick” for big multinational businesses, with potential huge fines and even imprisonment.
However, if this first case is anything to go by, the above interpretation is wrong, although it is also possible that this first prosecution is a way of putting a marker down about the use of the Act relating to public servants.
The prosecution relates to a clerk at Redbridge Magistrates Court relating to alleged misconduct in the form of requesting and receiving a bribe in retrun for influencing a motorist’s prosecution in the court. The defendant has also been charged with other offences including attempting to pervert the course of justice.
