Fraudulent forensic expert jailed

Morrison faked his qualifications for about 30 years

A bogus forensic psychologist who supplied evidence in hundreds of court cases has been jailed for five years.

Gene Morrison, 48, of Hyde, was described in court as a charlatan who had tricked judges, lawyers and police.

About 700 cases he worked on over 26 years, across the UK, will now have to be re-assessed, Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court was told.

Judge Jeffrey Lewis said Morrison, who was convicted of 20 charges, was an "inveterate and compulsive liar".

The charges included obtaining a money transfer by deception, obtaining property by deception, perverting the course of justice and perjury.

Your business was built on a whole series of lies Judge Jeffrey Lewis

He was cleared of one count of obtaining a money transfer by deception.

The court heard Morrison was paid at least £250,000 in taxpayers' money for giving apparently expert advice, but had actually bought his qualifications from a sham university.

Morrison's firm, Hyde-based Criminal and Forensic Investigations Bureau (CFIB), had been hired to give evidence in court. Many of his reports were cut and pasted from the internet.

Judge Lewis said: "You yourself had no expertise worth speaking of. Your business was built on a whole series of lies.

Morrison worked out of an office in Hyde

"My impression of you as an inveterate and compulsive liar is borne out by the verdict of the jury.

"Your activities in various ways struck at the heart of the judicial process.

"You did not care about the truth, you were wholly dishonest, you did not care of the consequences of your actions to the administration of justice."

Morrison admitted to police he began working as a forensic investigator in 1977 after buying certificates by post for a BSc in Forensic Science, a Masters with excellence in Forensic Investigation and a Doctorate in Criminology.

It "looked easier" than going to a real university, he told the court. At one client meeting, Morrison wore a fluorescent jacket with the words Forensic Investigator emblazoned across the back.

Gene Morrison has worked on court cases across the UK

During his four-week trial he insisted on being called Dr Morrison.

Det Supt Martin Bottomley, of Greater Manchester Police (GMP), dubbed Morrison a "Walter Mitty-type character".

He added: "His entire working life has been based on a web of lies and deceit.

"He brazenly stood in front of judges and juries up and down the country and lied under oath repeatedly.

"Morrison has shamelessly fleeced innocent victims, including a grieving family, out of many thousands of pounds and, in the process, has hoodwinked courts across the country."

GMP will be sending a report to the Attorney General on Morrison's work to see if action is needed.