Bruce Hyman

Bruce Anthony Hyman is a British radio and TV producer. A barrister by profession, in 2007 Hyman was the first person in his profession in 800 years[1] to be incarcerated for attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Bruce Anthony Hyman
NationalityEnglish
Occupations
Criminal statusReleased
Conviction(s)Perverting the course of justice (2007)
Criminal chargePerverting the course of justice
Penalty12 months imprisonment; with a two–month non–parole period
CommentsDisbarred as a barrister by the Bar Standards Board

Crime

On Monday 6 August 2007 Hyman was convicted of attempting to pervert the course of justice. Hyman had been representing a divorced woman fighting for custody of her four-year-old daughter when he tried to falsely incriminate the girl's father. The father, Simon Eades, was applying for increased access to his child. Hyman had crafted and sent a fraudulent email to the father which appeared to be from a charity campaigning for fathers' rights and whose content appeared to support the father's claim that he should be granted greater access to his daughter. When Eades presented the email in court, Hyman accused him of forgery. Eades' own detective work attempting to clear his name led ultimately to the arrest of Hyman. CCTV footage from a computer shop proved that Hyman had sent the email and thus had attempted to falsely incriminate Eades.[1][2][3][4][5][6] On 19 September 2007 Hyman was jailed for 12 months at Bristol Crown Court, and ordered to pay £3,000 compensation to his victim.[7] He was released a few days before Christmas 2007 after serving just over two months of his sentence.[8] In November 2008 Hyman was permanently disbarred by the Bar Standards Board.[9]

At his trial, Hyman, who had committed his crime in the family court, produced a character reference from his friend, Sir Mark Potter, who was the head of the family division of UK justice. A complaint against Sir Mark Potter in this regard was investigated by the Office of Judicial Complaints.[10]

Work

At Above the Title Productions Hyman produced three new radio series of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in 2003 and 2004, with Helen Chattwell and Dirk Maggs.[11][12] He also acted as Executive Producer of the BBC Radio 4 programme presented by Clive Anderson called Unreliable Evidence until 2006. Hyman has written scripts for Johnny Vegas and Angus Deayton.[13]

References
  1. "Bruce Hyman may today become the first Barrister in British history to go to jail for perverting the course of justice". BBC Radio 4 Today program. 29 August 2007.
  2. "Framed father tells of barrister fake email plot". Daily Telegraph. United Kingdom. 31 August 2007. Archived from the original on 3 September 2007.
  3. "Account of Hyman´s conviction". BBC News. 6 August 2007.
  4. FNF newsletter account of Hyman story
  5. Wikinews coverage at UK PM's speechwriter awaits sentence 26 August 2007
  6. "The friend of the stars who fell from grace". The Observer. 26 August 2007.
  7. "Prison term for producer lawyer".
  8. "Questions asked as crooked legal eagle is freed early". Real fathers for justice. Archived from the original on 27 July 2011.
  9. "Disciplinary Finding Details". Bar Standards Board. 10 November 2008.
  10. Doward, Jamie (16 November 2008). "Senior judge faces fresh investigation by watchdog". The Observer.
  11. Above the Title's Archived 2005-10-23 at the Wayback Machine Hitchhiker's page.
  12. Production Diary by Hyman and Dirk Maggs on the BBC Radio 4 website
  13. City University Law Society Archived January 25, 2007, at the Wayback Machine page from 2006 regarding a speaking engagement of Hyman's.
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