First Bribery Act conviction

A magistrates’ court clerk was jailed for six years to “deter offending of this kind” in the first conviction under the Bribery Act 2010.

The clerk was prosecuted under section 2 of the Act for requesting and receiving a bribe of £500 to ‘get rid of’ a speeding fine.  After pleading guilty he was sentenced to three years for bribery and six years concurrently for misconduct in a public office.

The prosecution believe he made around £20,000 over the course of a year by encouraging traffic offenders to pay him in return for his assistance. This involved at least 53 separate instances of manipulating the system for his own gain.

The Bribery Act, which came into force on 1 July 2011, has significantly overhauled UK bribery law, making it an offence to bribe another, receive a bribe, bribe a foreign official.  Importantly it is also an offence for commercial organisations to fail to prevent bribery. The three-year sentence sends out a strong message to individuals and employers on the extent to which the courts are willing to use their sentencing powers for the most serious offences.

Hardwick HR can provide a simple policy and wording for employment contracts to protect employer and employee.