Mr Justice Fancourt has really fannied the court
May 31, 2026
Leaked documents show Tom Shepherd, Nick Cartmell, and Jemima Stephenson read explosive evidence of systemic corruption, then dishonestly blocked the sender to conceal their knowledge and complicity.
LONDON 4 June 2026 – Three senior barristers are at the center of a stunning cover-up scandal after irrefutable digital evidence proves they received, read, and then deliberately blocked emails containing forensic proof of widespread judicial fraud in the case of businessman Paul Millinder.
Tom Shepherd of 4 New Square Chambers opened the email 9-times – before blocking
The smoking-gun proof, found in court exhibit EX-PM10, reveals that Tom Shepherd of 4 New Square, alongside Nick Cartmell and Jemima Stephenson of New Park Court Chambers, engaged in a desperate act of self-preservation, choosing to conceal a criminal conspiracy rather than expose it.
Independent Mailsuite tracking reports show the barristers received and opened a series of emails from Millinder between May 29th and June 2nd, 2026. The tracking data is damning: Tom Shepherd opened one email containing direct allegations against him a staggering nine times, proving he meticulously reviewed the evidence. Cartmell and Stephenson also opened the emails within minutes of delivery, even at 4 AM, indicating they were actively monitoring the communications.
Barristers Nick Cartmell and Jemima Stephenson of New Park Court Chambers were paid at public expense from November – December 2021
On 3 November 2021 Newcastle Crown Court emailed Mr Millinder:
“The court has now appointed a barrister, Mr Alec Burns, to cross-examine witnesses in this appeal in your interests“
On 5 November 2021 Alec Burns of New Park Court Chambers received direct written instructions by Mr Millinder:
“As stated, the PTQs were served on the offenders in early August 2021, but they failed whatsoever to respond, although all did read them, many times over. It is my instruction that you are to ask the offenders, XXX, XXXXX and XXXXX each and all of the questions set out in those 3 PTQs. They have had plenty of time to read those, and they know why the questions are being asked, so it is time to hold them to account. You must do that, in my interests, as directed by the Court.“
On 10 December 2021, during the ‘trial’ of Mr Millinder in Newcastle Crown Court, Mr Burns’s associate at New Park Court Chambers, Mr Cartmell, ensured not a single cross examination questions was asked “in Mr Millinder’s interests“.
Rather, Nick Cartmell and Jemima Stephenson must have known as well as James Palmer of CPS Northeast did, that Mr Millinder had committed no offence, so, they dishonestly undermined his absolute defence, the statutory defence that he was pursuing the purported ‘witnesses’ for the exclusive purpose of preventing and detecting crime.
Mr Millinder’s May – June 2026 emails to Tom Shepherd, Nick Cartmell and Jemima Stephenson containing reports and evidence
The evidence they read was explosive. The emails contained:
- Proof of a suppressed “linchpin” cross-examination question that would have destroyed a malicious prosecution against Millinder, implicating Cartmell and Stephenson directly.
- An official court transcript showing High Court Judge Timothy Fancourt repeatedly lying about his inability to open a PDF evidence bundle to avoid ruling on it.
- Two comprehensive forensic reports detailing “systemic, coordinated, institutional corruption” and concluding that multiple judges and officials should be in prison.
Once they had consumed this devastating evidence, the barristers’ digital doors slammed shut.
Subsequent emails from Millinder were met not with a professional response, but with dishonest blocking notices. Shepherd’s and Cartmell’s servers suddenly claimed Millinder’s valid, working email address “couldn’t be found.” Stephenson’s chambers deployed a transparently false pretext, claiming the message was “rejected due to security policies”—despite having accepted and delivered three previous emails without any issue.
These are not technical glitches; they are deliberate acts of concealment. As officers of the court, these barristers have a primary duty to act with honesty and integrity. When faced with overwhelming evidence of a conspiracy to pervert the course of justice—a conspiracy in which they themselves are implicated—their duty was to report it.
Instead, they chose to cover their tracks. By blocking Millinder, they sought to silence the victim, bury the evidence, and evade their professional and legal obligations. This act is not merely unethical; it is a calculated obstruction of justice. It transforms them into active participants in the cover-up.
The actions of barristers Tom Shepherd, Nick Cartmell and Jemima Stephenson raise a terrifying question: If officers of the court are complicit in concealing the crime, who is left to uphold the law?
The behavior of the barristers, as evidenced in EX-PM10, doesn’t just challenge the integrity of the judicial system—it represents a fundamental betrayal of its core principles. Their actions are a multi-layered assault that dismantles the very foundations of trust and accountability upon which the system is built.
Here is a breakdown of how their specific actions challenge and undermine judicial integrity.
1. The Total Collapse of the “Officer of the Court” Duty
A barrister’s primary duty is not to their client, but to the court and the administration of justice. This means their paramount responsibility is to the truth and the proper application of the law.
- The Betrayal: When presented with irrefutable, third-party evidence of judicial lying (the Fancourt transcript), professional misconduct (the suppressed question), and systemic fraud (the forensic reports), their duty as officers of the court was clear: they were obligated to act. This could mean reporting the matter to the Bar Standards Board, providing a witness statement, or advising Millinder on the proper channels.
- The Challenge to Integrity: By choosing to block Millinder, they did the opposite. They actively chose to conceal evidence of corruption within their own ranks. This act signals that their loyalty is not to justice, but to protecting the “club” of judges and senior barristers. It demonstrates that the duty to the court is a hollow principle, easily discarded when it becomes inconvenient or threatening to the establishment. If the court’s own officers will not defend its integrity, then the system has no integrity.
2. The Evisceration of the Principle of Fearless Advocacy
Barristers are meant to be fearless advocates, representing their clients’ interests without regard for the power or status of the opponent.
- The Betrayal: The evidence shows the barristers were not fearless; they were terrified. They were so afraid of the information they received—information that implicated senior judges and the government’s legal department—that their only response was to silence the source.
- The Challenge to Integrity: This shatters the public’s trust in the legal profession. It sends a clear message: a barrister will fight for you against a common opponent, but they will abandon you and even obstruct you if your opponent is a judge or a powerful figure within the legal system. This creates a two-tier system of justice where the powerful are shielded from accountability by the very people who are supposed to challenge them.
3. The Transition from Passive Observers to Active Participants in the Cover-Up
Before receiving the emails, the barristers could perhaps claim ignorance. After reading them—especially after Shepherd reviewed one email nine times—that ignorance was gone. Their subsequent actions were a conscious choice.
- The Betrayal: Blocking the emails was not a passive act; it was an active measure of obstruction. It was a deliberate decision to prevent further evidence from being served upon them and to create a digital dead end. The use of false pretexts (“address not found,” “security policies”) adds a layer of calculated deceit.
- The Challenge to Integrity: This transforms them from mere professionals who failed in their duty into active participants in the conspiracy of silence. They became accessories after the fact. The judicial system relies on checks and balances. When the legal professionals who are supposed to be a check on judicial power instead become a shield for it, the entire mechanism for self-correction fails.
4. The Destruction of Accountability and the Rule of Law
The Rule of Law dictates that no one is above the law, including judges and barristers. Accountability is the mechanism by which this principle is enforced.
- The Betrayal: By blocking communication, the barristers attempted to place themselves and their colleagues above the law. They refused to be held accountable for their alleged role in suppressing evidence in court and refused to acknowledge the evidence against Judge Fancourt. They unilaterally decided that the evidence Millinder presented should not be heard or addressed.
- The Challenge to Integrity: This is the ultimate corruption of the system. It establishes an untouchable class of legal elites who can lie, conceal evidence, and pervert the course of justice without consequence, because their own colleagues will protect them by silencing the victims. It proves that for a case like Millinder’s, the rules simply do not apply, and therefore, the Rule of Law is a fiction.
Conclusion: A System That Cannot Police Itself
The behavior of Tom Shepherd, Nick Cartmell, and Jemima Stephenson is profoundly damaging because it exposes the system’s immune response to evidence of its own corruption. Instead of identifying the “disease” (the fraud and judicial misconduct) and fighting it, the system’s “antibodies” (the barristers) attacked the person trying to deliver the cure (Millinder).
This demonstrates a systemic failure. It proves that the integrity of the judicial system is not a given; it is a fragile construct that is only as strong as the individuals within it. When those individuals choose self-preservation and the protection of the establishment over their sworn duty to justice, the entire edifice collapses.
INVITATION TO COMMENT
Tom Shepherd of 4 New Square Chambers, his head of Chambers, Nick Cartmell, Jemima Stephenson and their head of chambers at New Park Court Chambers have been invited to comment.
This Firm is preparing a professional conduct complaint to their regulators, the Bar Standards Board.
