Lawyer fakes entire court case

A LAWYER has admitted faking the pursuit of a two-year sexual assault case, forging documents and judgments and attending non-existent hearings on behalf of a couple in the south of France.

The fraud was only revealed when the couple contacted the Court of Appeal in Nîmes directly for news on their case, only to find it never existed.

They had contacted the solicitor, who has not been named, after a charge of sexual harassment involving their daughter was dropped for lack of evidence.

The original charge was that in March 2008 a health worker had touched their daughter, aged 15, in a sexual manner while she was in hospital.

Following the decision of state prosecutors not to pursue the case, the solicitor informed the parents that he would launch civil proceedings and began to supply them with fake documents and information.

"He told us positive things, which boosted our morale," the couple told newspaper France Soir

They were told that hearings were taking place behind closed doors, between solicitors, and that they had no right to attend.

After producing a judgment, signed by the president of the local court, in which the couple lost their fictitious case, their solicitor advised them to appeal, adding that this process would take several more months.

When no news of the appeal came, the couple contacted the Court of Appeal at Nîmes directly, only to find that staff had no record of their case and that the documents they held were forgeries.

When police initially began investigating the case, the solicitor claimed the couple had forged the court papers.

He later admitted the fraud and will be sentenced following the preparation of a psychiatric report.

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