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| Fake bomb detector salesman sentenced to 10 years | Fake bomb detector salesman sentenced to 10 years |
| (about 20 hours later) | |
| The survivors of lethal Baghdad truck bombs driven through checkpoints equipped with fake bomb detectors are to lay claim to at least £7m of the assets of the Somerset fraudster who sold them. | The survivors of lethal Baghdad truck bombs driven through checkpoints equipped with fake bomb detectors are to lay claim to at least £7m of the assets of the Somerset fraudster who sold them. |
| An Old Bailey judge sentenced Jim McCormick, 57, to 10 years in jail on Thursday for a fraud he described as the worst he could imagine and "a callous confidence trick". | An Old Bailey judge sentenced Jim McCormick, 57, to 10 years in jail on Thursday for a fraud he described as the worst he could imagine and "a callous confidence trick". |
| Now a list of around 200 people either injured or related to the 95 killed in a double bombing on the Iraqi ministries of justice and foreign affairs in 2009 will be presented to the UK authorities. | Now a list of around 200 people either injured or related to the 95 killed in a double bombing on the Iraqi ministries of justice and foreign affairs in 2009 will be presented to the UK authorities. |
| McCormick sold 7,000 fake bomb detectors based on useless golf ball finders to the Iraqi government and other international agencies for prices ranging from £1,600 per unit to £19,000. | McCormick sold 7,000 fake bomb detectors based on useless golf ball finders to the Iraqi government and other international agencies for prices ranging from £1,600 per unit to £19,000. |
| They cost McCormick less than $50 (£32) and police believe sales to Iraq alone were worth more than £55m, buying McCormick a mansion in Bath, holiday homes abroad and a yacht. | They cost McCormick less than $50 (£32) and police believe sales to Iraq alone were worth more than £55m, buying McCormick a mansion in Bath, holiday homes abroad and a yacht. |
| Judge Richard Hone told McCormick: "Your fraudulent conduct in selling so many useless devices for simply enormous profit promoted a false sense of security and in all probability materially contributed to causing death and injury to innocent individuals." | Judge Richard Hone told McCormick: "Your fraudulent conduct in selling so many useless devices for simply enormous profit promoted a false sense of security and in all probability materially contributed to causing death and injury to innocent individuals." |
| An adviser to Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, said he intends to make a claim on behalf of the victims of the 2009 attack which the Old Bailey heard on Thursday was an example of McCormick's fraud contributing to terrorists' success. | An adviser to Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, said he intends to make a claim on behalf of the victims of the 2009 attack which the Old Bailey heard on Thursday was an example of McCormick's fraud contributing to terrorists' success. |
| "A list of those who died and were injured and their kin is already available and I will bring that list to London and provide it to the British government," said Saad al-Muttalibi, a city councillor in Baghdad. | "A list of those who died and were injured and their kin is already available and I will bring that list to London and provide it to the British government," said Saad al-Muttalibi, a city councillor in Baghdad. |
| "This money should be paid to the people who can prove they were victims of terrorism. These bomb detectors became the main deterrent in Iraq." | "This money should be paid to the people who can prove they were victims of terrorism. These bomb detectors became the main deterrent in Iraq." |
| Brigadier Simon Marriner, who served in Iraq from 2009-2011, had told the court in a statement that McCormick's ADE-brand machines were used at checkpoints across Baghdad through which truck bombs had to pass before blowing up the ministries of justice and foreign affairs. | Brigadier Simon Marriner, who served in Iraq from 2009-2011, had told the court in a statement that McCormick's ADE-brand machines were used at checkpoints across Baghdad through which truck bombs had to pass before blowing up the ministries of justice and foreign affairs. |
| "These checkpoints were equipped with the ADE," he said. "The truck bomb attacks were very successful in causing significant loss of life and considerable material damage which remains to this day." | "These checkpoints were equipped with the ADE," he said. "The truck bomb attacks were very successful in causing significant loss of life and considerable material damage which remains to this day." |
| Outside court Iraqi exiles called for compensation from at least £7m in assets that are expected to be confiscated from McCormick, from Langport, Somerset. | Outside court Iraqi exiles called for compensation from at least £7m in assets that are expected to be confiscated from McCormick, from Langport, Somerset. |
| "He destroyed Iraqi lives," said Nidhal Ailshbib, an Iraqi activist based in London. "Thousands of Iraqi people are dead and handicapped." | "He destroyed Iraqi lives," said Nidhal Ailshbib, an Iraqi activist based in London. "Thousands of Iraqi people are dead and handicapped." |
| DS Steve Mapp, of Avon and Somerset police, urged people who believe they were victims of the bomb detectors to make a claim for compensation from the confiscation hearing scheduled for May 2014. | DS Steve Mapp, of Avon and Somerset police, urged people who believe they were victims of the bomb detectors to make a claim for compensation from the confiscation hearing scheduled for May 2014. |
| "We can invite them to come forward to be considered to be compensated for their loss," he said. "That is something we are considering and it is only right." | "We can invite them to come forward to be considered to be compensated for their loss," he said. "That is something we are considering and it is only right." |
| Jonathan Laidlaw QC, defending, said: "The defendant was not responsible for any of these attacks and any amount of protective devices at checkpoints in Baghdad couldn't protect the people of Iraq from the determination of those who conduct the insurgency there." | |
| But the judge said that in terms of culpability and harm, he could imagine no more serious case. He told McCormick: "The device was useless, the profit outrageous and your culpability as a fraudster has to be placed in the highest category … Soldiers, police forces, border customs officers, hotel security staff and many others trusted their lives to the overpriced devices sold by you, which which were no more than crude plastic components with a disconnected antenna and a capability of detecting explosives at no better than random chance; your profits were obscene, funding grand houses, a greedy and extravagant lifestyle and even a yacht; you have neither insight, shame or any sense of remorse. Even now you insist they work, in a vain effort to minimise your culpability." | But the judge said that in terms of culpability and harm, he could imagine no more serious case. He told McCormick: "The device was useless, the profit outrageous and your culpability as a fraudster has to be placed in the highest category … Soldiers, police forces, border customs officers, hotel security staff and many others trusted their lives to the overpriced devices sold by you, which which were no more than crude plastic components with a disconnected antenna and a capability of detecting explosives at no better than random chance; your profits were obscene, funding grand houses, a greedy and extravagant lifestyle and even a yacht; you have neither insight, shame or any sense of remorse. Even now you insist they work, in a vain effort to minimise your culpability." |
| DS Nigel Rock, of Avon and Somerset police, said: "James McCormick is a conman. He will continue to be a conman. A man who's made millions of dollars is now convicted." | DS Nigel Rock, of Avon and Somerset police, said: "James McCormick is a conman. He will continue to be a conman. A man who's made millions of dollars is now convicted." |
| • This article was amended on 3 May 2013. The original said that Richard Whittam QC, rather than Jonathan Laidlaw QC, was defending James McCormick. This has been corrected. | |
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