City trader jailed for Libor rigging breaks down in tears as he wins right to appeal his case in the UK
A City trader jailed for Libor rigging has been granted the right to appeal his case in the UK.
Tom Hayes told the Mail he burst into tears when he learned he had won the first step in the fight to clear his name, after the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) yesterday referred his case to the Court of Appeal.
It has been six-and-a-half years since he applied to the CCRC, which concluded that ‘there is a real possibility’ his conviction could be overturned.
Hayes, 43, at one stage shared a cell with a murderer after becoming the first Briton convicted of fixing Libor rates in 2015.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) argued he was the ‘ringmaster’ of an international conspiracy to fix the global benchmark for interest rates.
Appeal: Jailed trader Tom Hayes said he burst into tears when he learned he had won the first step in the fight to clear his name
His 14-year sentence was reduced on appeal to 11 years, and he served five-and-a-half. He said the experience ruined his life.
The CCRC intervened after a US court cleared two other former traders, Gavin Black and Matthew Connolly, who were convicted in similar circumstances.
Helen Pitcher, CCRC chairman said: ‘We have concluded after a lengthy and complex investigation that the Court of Appeal should clarify whether the right legal approach was taken.’
Hayes said: ‘It is time for all those convicted of Libor rigging to get justice. Although we have all served our custodial sentence the scars of our experiences remain today and continue to plague us.’
His lawyer, Karen Todner, said the conviction ‘demands immediate correction’.
The SFO said: ‘All our prosecutions are based on evidence and the applicable law. We stand ready to support the Court of Appeal as it considers this referral.’
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