The decline and fall of Mark Leech

The decline and fall of Mark Leech

I have got an axe to grind, therefore it is intended to do a hatchet job on Mark Leech. He is an ex-prisoner, like myself, however, he likes to present himself as a successful businessman. For example, he is the owner of Spyhole Press Ltd t/a ConVerse. In April of this year the Advertising Standards Authority handed down its judgment on the claims made by Mark Leech. (To read the judgment click on the link).

www.asa.org.uk/asa/adjudications/Public/...

Today I visited the Spyhole Press/ConVerse website. If you follow the link, you will note that Mark Leech is still falsely advertising that ConVerse is the highest circulation national prison newspaper. www.spyholepress.com/converse.html

But, the dishonesty does not end there. Note the photograph depicting the team at Spyhole Press/Converse? It is a stock photo. Recently, the BNP came under flack for its fraudulent use of stock photos to falsely claim the people depicted supported the BNP. The website Tin Eye exposes Mark Leech’s attempt at deception. The link shows where the image has last been used and its origin. tineye.com/search/25f3942404589edda3bd56...

“As part of Prisons.Org.UK we are part of the premier prisons publishing company (and accredited legal training organisation) in the country. From publishing The Prisons Handbook, the definitive 950 page annual reference book for prisons, to operating the SRA and Bar Standards Board accredited Institute of Prison Law, we can offer value that no-one can match”.

I think it is a bit rich to be claiming to be the premier prisons publishing company. But, it is the accredited legal training organisation bit which interests me more. The Solicitors Regulatory Authority and Bar Standards Board only deal with qualified solicitors and barristers. Mark Leech has no formal legal qualification, therefore they cannot supervise him in relation to his claim to be accredited by them. It is yet another fraudulent claim by Mark Leech who has convictions for fraud and deception. Inside Time – The National Newspaper for Prisoners (with the highest circulation figures) announced in its April issue that it would be publishing their own Prisons Handbook, so even Mark Leech’s claim to publish the definitive annual reference book appears to be being challenged.

You would expect with such a fancy title as the Institute of Prison Law that the institute actually exists as a physical structure. However, I would challenge whether a correspondence course and the odd renting of rooms for those foolish enough to pay money and sign up for what Mark Leech has to offer actually constitutes an institute under English law. I would call what Mark Leech is doing as obtaining money by deception. That is for the relevant authorities to determine.

On the Spyhole Press/ConVerse website, if you click on the About Us link at the foot of the page, it takes you to a page which has an endorsement by Jeremy Bamber who was convicted in 1986 of murdering several members of his family, including twin six-year-old children, in a highly-publicised case. This is hardly the recommendation I would have thought appropriate, but there again Mark Leech is probably desperate not being able to get anybody respectable to endorse his products. In the sidebar on the left of the page we are treated to some more false claims:

“We publish all the mainstream publications on prisons in England and Wales - with annual, quarterly and monthly titles - and operate the main accredited training body on prison law in the country, The Institute of Prison Law”.

I wonder what the following accredited training bodies in prison law think of Mark Leech’s claim to be the main authority? www.insidetime.org/docs/training%20provi...

I feel like the cat which has given the mouse a mauling and has now tired of the game of cat and mouse.

[Originally posted as "Mark Leech is as honest as expenses fiddling MPs, no ifs, no buts" on MyTelegraph]