Peter Testar
Judge Peter Testar | |
|---|---|
.svg) | |
| Circuit judge (England and Wales) | |
| Assumed office 2004 | |
| Appointed by | Elizabeth II |
| Crown Court Recorder | |
| In office 1990–2004 | |
| Personal details | |
| Nationality | British |
| Residence | London, United Kingdom |
| Occupation | Judge |
His Honour Judge Peter Testar is a British judge who presided over and was a sentencing judge in high-profile cases involving fraud, insider dealing and other serious offences.[1]
Judicial career[edit]
His Honour Judge Testar was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in 1974, where he was made a bencher in 2014.[2] He was a Recorder[3] of the Crown Court until 2004, when he was appointed a circuit judge.[4] In 2006 he became the Resident Judge on the South Eastern Circuit based at Southwark Crown Court.[2] As a circuit judge he has heard and led many high-profile criminal cases.[2]
Cases of notice[edit]
- In 2008 His Honour Judge Tester presided over a case of Lindani Mangena, a fraudster who persuaded churchgoers and other religious people to hand over millions of pounds to him.[5]
- In 2011 His Honour Judge Tester presided over a case of Edward Davenport, a convicted fraudster who had “caused harm to many people”[6] and ordered him to pay a £12 million confiscation order and £1.9 million in compensation to victims. Another £400,000 of the original confiscation order is still outstanding.[6] Judge Testar has acknowledged Davenport's skill in deception, but sentenced him to seven years and eight months.
"The stress and anxiety Davenport’s victims suffered were enormous and their lives have been grievously affected by this fraud. Some of them will never recover from that."[7]
- In 2014 His Honour Judge Tester was the presiding judge in the trial of Christopher Weatherhead and Holly Road who carried out Denial of Service attacks on Visa Inc., Mastercard and Paypal. In his closing speech Judge Peter Tester emphasised that hacking is intolerable:
"It is intolerable that when an individual or a group disagrees with a particular entity's activities they should be free to curtail that activity by means of attacks such as those which took place in this case."[8]
- In 2016 His Honour Judge Tester presided over a case of a gang of fraudsters, who "frittered money away on ephemeral junk"[9] at Harrods and was present when £48,000 was spent at in one go at the department store, adding the crook "threw himself fully into the lavish lifestyle"[9] by booking expensive hotels, cars and nightclubs.[9] 25-year-old Muslim Feezan Choudhary used Scottish, Welsh or posh English accents to pose as an official from a bank’s fraud department to persuade employees to give him vital security details over the phone.[10]
Most of his victims were believed to be small companies, with one solicitor’s firm in Liverpool losing more than half a million while a company in Gloucestershire was drained of more than £2m in just hours.[11] Choudhary regularly stayed in the five-star Mayfair Hotel and even hired a suite there to carry out his fraud in the lap of luxury.[12] Judge Testar said the scam was allowing cash to flow like "coins from a fruit machine".[13]
Sentencing him, he said:
"This was a complex, clever, persistent and pitiless fraud. The damage to the people running these businesses was potentially devastating. It would break the hearts of those who lost this money to see how it was frittered away on frivolous junk at Harrods."[13]
The fraudulent scheme involved calling businesses and telling staff they were speaking to fraud investigators persuading them to provide crucial bank account details.[14] Giving Choudhary an 11 years sentence, judge Testar said: "Anyone who had heard the calls would have been struck and affected by them. There was a great deal of sophistication in the fraud. The people behind the fraud would have need to have an understanding of bank systems. The people involved seem to be able to take control of telephone lines of business so as to shut them out of the banks."[14]
- In 2017 His Honour Judge Tester presided over a case of Simon Kenny and his assistant Emma Coates who were charged with stealing money from their firm's client account.[15]
See also[edit]
Other articles of the topic Biography : List of Mensans, Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani, List of pneumonia deaths, Trippie Redd, Bankrol Hayden, MrWolfy, Kayden James Buchanan
References[edit]
- ↑ "Malcolm Calvert insider dealing trial shines a light on inner workings of the City". 13 September 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "His Honour Judge Peter Testar". 12 September 2017. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
- ↑ John Crowley (12 September 2017). "Teacher who bit off ear is spared jail". Retrieved 12 September 2017.
- ↑ "Law Gazzette". 12 September 2017. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
- ↑ "Conman took churchgoers' millions". 13 September 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Fraudster 'Fast Eddie' ordered to pay £13.5m". 13 September 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
- ↑ "How 'Fast Eddie' came skidding off the rails". 13 September 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
- ↑ "Anonymous hackers jailed for DDoS attacks on Visa, Mastercard and Paypal". 13 September 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "'Bullying' £113m fraudsters spent money on fast cars and hotels". 13 September 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
- ↑ "FIZZY RASCALUK's biggest cyber fraudster – dubbed The Voice due to his use of fake accents – raked in £113million after scamming 750 businesses". 13 September 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
- ↑ "Jailed fraudster admits running same cold-caller con from behind bars". 13 September 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
- ↑ "Fraud gang boss who lived lavish lifestyle JAILED after scamming business out of MILLIONS". 13 September 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Fraudsters used bin bags full of cash for shopping sprees, bought supercars and a Lahore mansion". 13 September 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Fraudster gang spent £113m on fast cars and hotels whilst one of their victims committed suicide". 13 September 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
- ↑ "A district judge and his former lover who stole almost £780,000 from clients of their law firm". 13 September 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Unknown |
Circuit Judge 2004–present |
Incumbent |
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