A former magistrate from Blandford St Mary in Dorset reportedly has severe debt problems and is facing bankruptcy after he was accused of rape, prompting him to spend thousands in legal costs fighting the case.
Tony Hunt, 69, had served as a magistrate in Southampton magistrate’s court for years before his life was turned upside down by an allegation of rape. Hunt, who was at that time a senior traffic warden, claims he embarked upon a brief affair with a married woman, and that the same woman accused him of rape seven years later.
In 2003, Hunt was found guilty of the charge in Winchester Crown Court and was sentenced to four years in jail. He launched an appeal and presented new evidence, and as a result he was released from prison after two years.
Mr Hunt made an application to the Home Office for compensation for being wrongly imprisoned for two years, but his claim was rejected. Desperate for justice, he then launched a legal case against his former colleague for ‘malicious prosecution’, but this too failed.
The former magistrate and his family are now facing bankruptcy due to the astronomical costs of legal proceedings over the years. Mr Hunt lost his job after his conviction and has been unable to get another job, meaning his debt problems are only getting worse.
The family is said to owe at least £500,000 in costs to international law firm Hogan Lovells, which represented the woman in the case. Speaking to the Telegraph newspaper, Mr Hunt commented on this:
“I spent two years in prison as an innocent man and now they are seeking over £400,000 and trying to bankrupt me.”
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