Mike Lynch cleared

Now for Tom Hayes?

American justice comes in for some stick but it has shown the UK the way.

Mike Lynch was accused of fraudulent accounting when Hewlett-Packard bought Autonomy for £8.3bn, in 2011 and, thanks to a very one-sided extradition agreement with the USA, another dubious legacy of the Blair years, he was extradited there to stand trial. The jury exonerated him on all charges.

What happened to due diligence processes Hewlett-Packard? Caveat emptor?

Our own government has not shone here. Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, permitted the extradition to continue a one-way traffic to the USA in such things.

It also took an American court to rule that the cases against those accused of manipulating Libor has no substance in law. This piece of pure logic has still failed to penetrate the inner circles of English law where a determination to defend the decision, maybe an ego or two as well in the Tom Hayes case, still exists.

There is evidence that Libor traders were acting upon instructions from within government and Tom Hayes surely deserves to be cleared. The anti-bank hysteria pumped up at the Libor trials had little to do with justice and those responsible at the very top have moved on to well-paid careers or retirement.

Read Andy Verity’s Rigged. It is a sobering exercise and shakes your belief in much you took for granted.

Robert Lefroy Business Money Group Editor