NRI clerk jailed for taking bribe in UK

Munir Yakub Patel pleaded guilty in October to one count under the Bribery Act, and to one count of misconduct in public office.

The sentence, three years for the Bribery Act count and six for the misconduct count, will be served concurrently.

He worked at Redbridge Magistrates' Court at the time of the incident in August.
Patel, of Green Lane, Dagenham, took 500 pounds to avoid putting details of a traffic summons on a court database.

The prosecution believe he earned at least 20,000 pounds by helping 53 offenders, BBC reported.

Patel took bribes while working at Redbridge Magistrates' court in London and became the first person convicted under the Bribery Act, the report said.

Between February 2009 and August 2011 he also gave people advice about how to avoid being summoned to court over traffic penalties.

Sentencing him, Judge Alistair McCreath told Patel his offences were a "very substantial breach of trust".

"Your position as a court clerk had at its heart a duty to public confidence in it," the judge said.

"A justice system in which officials are prepared to take bribes in order to allow offenders to escape the proper consequences of their offending is inherently corrupt and is one which deserves no public respect and which will attract none."

Patel was arrested after 'The Sun' filmed him arranging the bribe to prevent a traffic penalty for speeding being entered on a legal database. A Motorist named Jayraj Singh contacted The Sun after being approached by Patel.

He is also believed to have supplied drivers with blank invoices from a north London garage to use as false proof their vehicle had been at the garage at the time of the alleged offence, the court heard.

The court heard it was likely Patel's offending was "not limited to the cluster of courts in which he worked" but extended across north London.

The new Bribery Act, which came into force on 1 July, made it illegal to offer or receive bribes, and to fail to prevent bribery.