Tom Hayes: Winning Supreme Court challenge is an incredible feeling
In 2015 he was found guilty of multiple counts of conspiracy to defraud over manipulating the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (Libor) between 2006 and 2010.
Speaking after his convictions were overturned, Mr Hayes, who arrived at court wearing a Kenny Rogers The Gambler t-shirt, said he was not 'bitter' about his experience.
He told a press conference: 'I always believed that it would happen. I always had confidence it would happen.'
Mr Hayes added: 'This wasn't a gamble for me. My trial judge called me a gambler.
'So I decided today I would wear a T-shirt, a Kenny Rogers Gambler T-shirt.'
Mr Hayes added: 'I'm really very grateful to the Supreme Court. We've had a consistent set of decisions from every other tribunal, and they were all to lose, and I got asked at my last appeal how I felt after we lost, and I said: 'Well, ask me when we've won.'
'Because I knew how it feels to lose, and today I'm learning how it feels to have won, and it's an incredible feeling.'
Carlo Palombo and Tom Hayes were backed by Sir David Davis (Jordan Pettitt/PA)
He added that going to prison, losing all his money, and missing out on five years of his son's life has taught him not to value 'things'.
Mr Hayes also said he became a Christian in prison, where he used to have the 'angry test, because the people who were angry, were innocent, because they were so annoyed about and frustrated with the miscarriage of justice they'd gone through'.
He said: 'I'm a better person today than when I went into prison. My faith really helps me overcome a lot of the anger to see myself through that sentence.
'I had a lot of stuff. Money enables you to buy more stuff and more stuff on top of that and your goal is to require more stuff again.
Mr Hayes was convicted of interest rate benchmark manipulation in 2015 and 2019 respectively (Jordan Pettitt/PA)
'But when all your stuff is taken away from you, and then your liberty is taken away from you, and your dignity gets taken away from you, and your family gets taken away from you and your children get taken away from you, what are you left with, and do you miss the stuff?
'When I got to my open prison, being able to walk on the grass barefoot and see the stars in the sky was such an amazing thing.
'Going on a train, crossing the road, and then when I got released after five-and-a-half years into Covid, walking around Regent's Park in the snow and hearing a lion's roar, those were just amazing things for me, it was so powerful.
'I've really learned what you should value in your life as a result of what's happened to me. I'm not chasing stuff anymore.'
Mr Hayes said he did not know what he would do next, but that suddenly the 'vista of freedom and choice' had opened up to him, and he would like to go and live near a large body of water.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
10 minutes ago
- Reuters
Lloyds keeps motor finance provision under review after Supreme Court ruling
LONDON, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L), opens new tab said on Monday it would keep its 1.2 billion pound ($1.6 billion) provision for motor finance claims under review, after a Supreme Court ruling last week went largely in favour of banks but still left them facing millions of potential compensation claims. "The Group currently believes that if there is any change to the provision it is unlikely to be material in the context of the group," the bank said in a statement. "The provision will continue to be reviewed for any further information that becomes available, with an update provided as and when necessary." Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said on Sunday it would consult on a redress scheme for motorists claiming to have been overcharged, estimating the total bill could hit between 9 billion and 18 billion pounds ($12-24 billion). The cost is likely to be substantially lower than early analyst estimates of more than 30 billion pounds, after the Supreme Court on Friday overturned an earlier Court of Appeal judgment that had widened the scope of valid claims. Banking analysts at RBC said in a note that they expected the cost to come in at 11.5 billion pounds, but that scenario would still leave several banks under-provisioned and potentially needing to set aside more cash. Close Brothers, which had previously set aside 165 million pounds, also provided no update to its provision in a statement on Monday and said it looked forward to engaging with the FCA on its consultation. ($1 = 0.7534 pounds)
The National
3 hours ago
- The National
Is entrepreneurship really made for someone like me?
But for many women of colour in Scotland, that version of entrepreneurship feels like a distant fairytale. Behind the hashtags, award ceremonies and success stories is a very different reality. One shaped by systemic barriers, quiet exclusions and the mental load of being both visible and invisible at the same time. I know this because I've lived it. I'm a mother of three, a singer, a broadcaster and a personal brand strategist, who helps women build visibility and confidence in rooms where we've often been overlooked. I came to Scotland nearly two decades ago. At the time, I had no network, no roadmap and very little idea of how to navigate this new cultural and professional landscape. I started from scratch hosting concerts, online broadcasts from my living room, mentoring women who felt stuck, and eventually launching Heartsong Live in 2017 – Scotland's first black female- led Christian radio station as a space for music, faith and real-life conversations. But I soon realised faith was only part of the picture. Many of the women listening were struggling, not because they lacked talent or ambition but because they felt stuck, unseen and disconnected from opportunity. That led to Adelphe – a social enterprise that empowers ethnic minority women in Fife, Edinburgh and West Lothian through coaching, mentoring and visibility support. We create safe, practical spaces for women navigating life transitions from entrepreneurship to menopause, caregiving to career change, helping them thrive personally, professionally and within their communities. Earlier this year, we submitted a proposal to the Scottish Government's Ecosystem Fund for a programme called Thrive Circles – a three-month pilot for 20 black and ethnic minority women in Scotland who are running small businesses while raising children, caring for loved ones or rebuilding their careers after migration. We designed it based on what women told us they needed. Safe spaces. Peer-led support. Storytelling that affirms identity. And real visibility ... not just more training slides. The programme included live workshops, a video and podcast series and a printed Adelphe Thrive Magazine showcasing 'Founders You Should Know'. It was creative, community-rooted and built on lived experience. We didn't get the funding. No explanation. No feedback. Just silence. And while I've learned to take rejection in my stride, this one felt like more than a 'no'. It echoed a pattern many of us have become familiar with that the stories, needs and brilliance of black and ethnic minority women in Scotland are too often seen as niche, rather than necessary. When you're a woman of colour in business, rejection doesn't just threaten your plans. It threatens your sense of belonging. You start to wonder if there's a quota. If being passionate, strategic and community-led is enough. If your lived experience is ever going to be seen as credible expertise. You carry the hopes of your community. The silent expectations of your family. The pressure to succeed not just for yourself, but for the girls watching you. And yet, we build anyway. We show up to networking events where we're the only ones. We create content, host circles, lead workshops and offer support even when the funding doesn't come. We raise children while pitching ideas. We adapt, translate and make do because we must. Entrepreneurship, for us, isn't about vanity metrics. It's about visibility. It's about voice. It's about legacy. It's about creating spaces where we don't have to code-switch to be taken seriously. I often say to the women I coach: You're not late. You're just not seen yet. And I say it to myself too – in the quiet moments, after the rejection emails, when I wonder if anything I'm building will ever be truly recognised. So, is entrepreneurship really made for me? I believe it is. Not in the way it's often presented – not just as scaling, pitching or chasing numbers. For me, entrepreneurship is about creating something that reflects who you are, not just what you sell. It's choosing to lead, even when no-one hands you a title. It's building with what you have, where you are, and inviting others to rise with you. Being an entrepreneur isn't just about solving problems, it's about holding space for possibilities. It's about showing up with vision and vulnerability. It's about using your voice when it's easier to stay quiet, and creating opportunities when none seem to exist. For the women I serve and for myself, entrepreneurship is not just business. It's resistance. It's healing. It's legacy. So no, the system may not have been made with us in mind. But we're here. We're building. We're shifting the narrative. And that, too, is entrepreneurship. This piece was published as part of the Pass the Mic programme
Glasgow Times
8 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
Phillips hits out at Farage over children's safety online
Ms Phillips, the Home Office minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, appeared to accuse Nigel Farage of being more concerned about 'clicks for his monetised social media accounts' than children's safety online. She backed her colleague Peter Kyle after his row with the Reform UK leader last week. The Technology Secretary said Mr Farage was putting himself on the side of 'extreme pornographers' and people like Savile by opposing the law. Under rules that came into effect on July 25 as part of the act, online platforms such as social media sites and search engines must take steps to prevent children from accessing harmful content such as pornography or material that encourages suicide. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has been criticised (Jordan Pettitt/PA) Mr Farage has said the legislation threatens freedom of speech and open debate. Writing in The Times, Ms Phillips said: 'Farage said it's the biggest threat to freedom of speech in our lifetimes. 'My colleague Peter Kyle said he was siding with modern-day Jimmy Saviles preying on children online.' She said she would like to speak to Mr Farage about 'one of those modern-day Saviles, Alexander McCartney'. McCartney, who posed as a teenage girl to befriend young females from across the globe on Snapchat and other platforms before blackmailing them, 'just needed a computer' to reach his targets, Ms Phillips wrote. Believed to be one of the world's most prolific online offenders, McCartney abused at least 70 children online and drove one girl to suicide. Ms Phillips said the Online Safety Act exists to try to provide a 'basic minimum of protection, and make it harder for paedophiles to prey on children at will'. She said police have told her that paedophile networks use 'normal websites where their parents assume they're safe' to coerce and blackmail young people. 'Perhaps Nigel Farage doesn't worry about that — there's no political advantage in it, and no clicks for his monetised social media accounts. But I do. 'I worry about what it means now and what it will mean when boys reared on a diet of ultraviolent online child abuse are adult men having children of their own. I can't ignore that, neither can Peter Kyle, and, most importantly, nor can millions of parents across the country. 'I defy Nigel Farage to tell me what any of that has to do with free speech. 'I defy him to meet even one parent who has lost a daughter to suicide because she was being blackmailed online and tell them that is just the price of civil liberties. Maybe he'd feel differently after that kind of meeting, or maybe he wouldn't care.' Her comments echo those of Mr Kyle, who said last week: 'Make no mistake about it, if people like Jimmy Savile were alive today, he'd be perpetrating his crimes online. And Nigel Farage is saying that he's on their side.' Mr Farage demanded an apology from the Technology Secretary, who refused to withdraw the remarks.
