The City trader wrongfully jailed for rigging a key interest rate during the financial crisis has slammed a ‘Kafkaesque’ justice system that is putting at risk his first holiday abroad since his conviction was quashed.
Tom Hayes cleared his name two months ago after the UK’s Supreme Court dramatically overturned a decade-old sentence against the former UBS and Citigroup banker for his role in the so-called Libor scandal.
But despite being a free man, his conviction is still listed on the police national computer, which stores details of convictions, cautions or reprimands.
It means Hayes cannot get a visa to visit Australia with his new family later this year unless his file is updated.
Hayes was the first person to be convicted by a jury for manipulating Libor, the London Interbank Offered Rate, which was once the world’s most widely used benchmark for setting interest rates on mortgages and other loans.
He was jailed in 2015 for 14 years, which was reduced to 11 on appeal. He spent five and a half years in prison before being released on licence in 2021.
Cleared: But Tom Hayes, pictured right, at the Supreme Court, hasn’t had his criminal record erased
The ordeal cost him his marriage, which broke down while he was in prison, and he has yet to receive any compensation for the miscarriage of justice.
He now plans to rebuild his life with a new partner and their three-month-old daughter, Themis, who is named after the Greek goddess of justice.
‘I’ve not been abroad for 13 years but I can’t travel because I’m still listed as a convicted criminal,’ Hayes told The Mail on Sunday.
‘It’s a very Kafkaesque situation, absolutely ridiculous,’ he added.
‘At what point does the State allow me to get on with my life?
‘It’s a broken justice system at its worst,’ Hayes said.
His plight has been highlighted by the fact that the US authorities have already erased all details of his conviction on their records. He said: ‘The FBI moved very fast but in my own country I’m still in this pernicious position.’
Hayes believes the delay in updating his police record in the UK may be because the Supreme Court does not usually deal with criminal cases. For a visa to be issued Hayes needs a court order discharging the conviction, so that it can be removed from the police national computer.
‘It’s stupidly simple to sort it out,’ said Hayes. ‘It just takes one court order to be signed off.’
It is understood an acquittal certificate has now been issued.
A spokesperson for the ACRO criminal records office said: ‘Unfortunately, we are unable to discuss individual cases.’
A big cricket fan, Hayes hopes it can all be sorted out and his visa issued in time for the first Test Match between England and Australia in Perth in November.
‘That’s if I can get a ticket to the Ashes,’ he quips.
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