Alan Blacker, AKA Lord Harley, AKA Dr The Right Honourable The Lord Harley of Counsel of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, is being prosecuted for fraud.

The court character, who infamously drew the ire of a judge for having the temerity to adorn himself with badges and ribbons and a ponytail, is set to stand trial in January next year for failing to notify the DWP of a change in circumstances. It is not known whether the specific charges are related to disability benefits, social security credits or undeclared royalties on Blacker publications including 'Hauling Trailers, the law made simple', and 'All you wanted to know about medals but were too afraid to ask'.

 

Orange is the new Blacker?

Blacker has been suffering a whirlwind ride to the bottom ever since his disastrous appearance before Judge Wynn Morgan in 2015, when the judge compared the self-styled Lord to "something out of Harry Potter". Media attention quickly turned to Blacker's 12,500 word LinkedIn profile. His profile boasted that Blacker was a 'Licensed Boiler Examiner', attended colleges at Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin Universities (none had any record of him), owned patents including one for a mortar weapon called a 'Hedgehog', and was fluent in Urdu.

In 2016 Blacker was prosecuted by the SRA. He refused to attend because, he said, the hearing overlapped with his birthday. He was struck off and ordered to pay the SRA's costs of £86,000. Blacker appealed the order on the basis of his health. The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal ruled his evidence "unconvincing", then handed him another bill for £7,500.

Blacker's trial is set to begin on 7 January 2019. He did not respond to a request for comment.