A former magistrates' court clerk has become the first person to be prosecuted and convicted under the UK Bribery Act, after he admitted accepting a £500 bribe to "get rid" of a speeding charge.

Munir Patel pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court last Friday (14 October) to bribery and misconduct in public office during his employment as an administrative clerk at London's Redbridge Magistrates' Court.

He accepted the bribe in exchange for omitting to record a traffic offence on a court database.

He has been prosecuted under Section 2 of the Bribery Act for requesting and receiving a bribe intending to improperly perform his functions. He also pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office for other similar offences, with seven charges of possessing false garage receipts for use in fraud ordered to lie on file.

Patel will be sentenced on 11 November and faces a maximum sentence of 10 years' imprisonment.

Senior Crown advocate for the Crown Prosecution Service special crime and counter terrorism division Gaon Hart said: "This prosecution is the first of its kind under the Bribery Act 2010, which has provided a significant weapon in the armoury of prosecutors that enables us to focus on the bribery element rather than general misconduct behaviour.

"We will continue to target those who act corruptly purely for personal gain and tailor the charge to reflect their wrong-doing."

The Bribery Act came into effect on 1 July this year, marking the biggest overhaul of UK bribery laws in over a century.

It created four criminal offences relating to bribery: bribing another; being bribed; bribing a foreign official; and, for commercial organisations, failing to prevent bribery. The Act also marks the first time in the UK that bribery will be a corporate crime.

Click here for the original story on Patel's charge.