Olympics: Bomb hoax
Barrister Michael Shrimpton – who was jailed for a bomb hoax at the London Olympics – has been disbarred by a disciplinary tribunal.
Mr Shrimpton was convicted of two counts of communicating false information with intent and in February 2015 jailed for a year.
He told a colleague of former defence secretary Philip Hammond he had intelligence about a terrorist bomb attack at the London Olympics, and repeated the hoax the next day when he called the offices of David Lidington MP.
During the trial, he claimed there was an assassination attempt against him by the Chinese authorities.
Mr Shrimpton, 61, reportedly attended the tribunal hearing this week carrying a giant admiralty map showing the route he claimed a submarine took to bring the nuclear bomb to London; his online writings indicate that he blames German intelligence services for this and many other events, including the recent Salisbury poisonings.
In 2014, he was also convicted of an offence contrary to the Protection of Children Act 1978 following his making of images or pseudo images of children.
He was sentenced to a three-year supervision order, was made the subject of a five-year sex offender prevention order and placed on the sex offender register for five years.
Mr Shrimpton has been suspended from practising as a barrister since this conviction.
A BSB spokesman said: “Mr Shrimpton was charged with having behaved in a way which was dishonest or otherwise discreditable and/or likely to diminish public confidence in the legal profession or otherwise bring the legal profession into disrepute.
“The tribunal found that his behaviour was indeed incompatible with the duties of a barrister and their decision to disbar him reflects the seriousness of the charges.”
The tribunal’s decision is open to appeal.
