Sir Douglas Graham and other Lombard directors will be pleased the Supreme Court reduced their sentences yesterday but disappointed it didn't look again at whether they should have been convicted, says their lawyer.
Graham, former Justice Minister Bill Jeffries, former PR man for the Queen, Lawrie Bryant, and Lombard director Michael Reeves were convicted of making untrue statements in company offer documents before the firm's failure.
The four men sought to overturn their convictions in the Court of Appeal, while the Financial Markets Authority argued the sentences of community work the men received were inadequate. The Court of Appeal upheld the convictions and imposed tougher sentences of home detention on the men.
But yesterday the Supreme Court said these sentences were too harsh and the original sentences from the High Court were to be restored. "The sentences of home detention which were eventually imposed were dependent on imprisonment otherwise being appropriate," the decision said.
The Supreme Court unanimously reached the view jail time was not an appropriate sentence for the offending. The judges noted the defendants had taken their reponsibilities seriously, took advice and Lombard in general was "properly run".