Criminal Law, Business law and Financial crime
Some examples of the criminal cases I have recently been in have involved:-
Serious and organised crime, homicide, firearms, drugs, explosives, sexual abuse (often historical), computer crime, copyright theft, white and blue collar fraud, terrorist-related matters, financial crime, proceeds of crime, money laundering, planning and road traffic.
I have prosecuted and defended in the whole range of criminal cases at trial and appeared in the Court of Appeal.
Abuse of process:
R v H – Successfully argued that case should be stayed due to errors made by the prosecution during the investigation. The case involved an international drug conspiracy. Legal arguments took three months to advance.
R v E – Case involved the largest UK tobacco smuggling allegation that Customs & Excise had as at the time of trial brought to trial. Successfully argued that case should be stayed due to the prosecutions conduct of the matter.
Hijacking:
R v U – Successfully defended in the ‘Stansted Afghan Hijacking’ case. U remains the only defendant who was not convicted.
Explosives and firearms:
R v K – A case involving the manufacture of two explosive devices one of which exploded destroying a solicitor’s office. The second was a device designed to explode upon being placed into a DVD player.
R v E – A case involving the petrol-bombing of two senior police officers homes.
Espionage:
R v CM – Successful defence of an army major charged with spying.
Corruption:
R v A – Represented a senior tax investigator employed by the Inland Revenue who was acquitted upon all allegations of corruption after an inquiry lasting 4 years and a trial lasting 3 months.
Homicide:
R v CJ and Others – This was the largest gangland trial that had been brought to court in the North of England. It involved Moss Side gangsters, gun-related violence, homicides, attempted homicides and drug dealing over a number of years. The trial took in excess of 6 months.
R v G & Others – Successfully defended a 17 year old charged with murder and grievous bodily harm relating to the setting fire of a block of flats when he was 14 years of age. The case was brought to trial after a ‘cold-case review’ and followed two major police investigations. The client was acquitted after I advanced submissions at the close of the prosecution case that the evidence was unreliable.
R v W – Successfully defended a young man charged with conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to dispose of the body.
R v N – Prosecuted to conviction an ex-policeman who decapitated his wife with an axe.
R v A – Successfully defended a 17 year old who was accused of being part of a group of youths who broke into the deceased’s home on two occasions and attacked him leaving him for dead on the second. Acquitted after an 8 week trial.
R v B – Prosecuted to conviction a rare case of infanticide where a young mother having delivered her own baby killed him.
R v S – Defended an escaped prisoner who murdered his wife in the presence of their very young children by repeatedly stabbing her. A great deal of sensitivity was required in dealing with the children who were witnesses in the case.
R v M – Prosecuted to conviction a difficult ‘shaken baby homicide’ case involving medical evidence from a total of 17 distinguished experts from a variety of medical disciplines.
Kidnapping and Blackmail:
R v L – Defended in the first trial involving the targeting and blackmailing of lottery millionaires.
R v S – Defended a Turkish client charged with armed kidnapping and blackmail in a ‘Kebab wars’ trial.
Drugs:
R v C – A substantial cannabis smuggling operation involving over 100 armed police officers in a midnight raid at a quiet east coast location.
Sexual offences:
R v B – Defended in a case in which a 16 year old was charged with serial rape involving two teenage girls.
R v H – Represented a high-flying lawyer charged with historical sexual allegations upon his two daughters. The accusations included stupefying them with drugs.
R v X – Represented a Judge charged with sexual offending.
R v B – Prosecuted an osteopath who faced multiple allegations of sexually abusing his patients.
R v H – Prosecuted to conviction a ‘cold case’ stranger rape.
Proceeds of crime and money laundering:
R v M – A large conspiracy to steal and distribute prestige cars throughout Europe.
R v C – An international conspiracy to supply drugs and launder the proceeds.
R v B – Successfully retained the clients financial interests in a property in the face of the prosecutions claim that all the property should be the subject of confiscation.
Fraud:
R v W – A substantial revenue fraud involving cross-jurisdictional legal issues and a ‘super grass’.
R v G – A commercial fraud involving the creation of a company to act as a vehicle for the sales of vast quantities of stolen artefacts.
Computer crime and copyright theft:
R v V – Successfully defended in a private prosecution brought by the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT). This is the first case that has come to trial involving accusations against the operators of a ‘linking’ website. The prosecution originally claimed that the world-wide losses of copyright revenues were in the region of £18 billion. It represented the highest value criminal prosecution ever brought in a UK court. I successfully argued one of the charges out of court at the close of the prosecution’s case and persuaded the jury to acquit the client of the second. The client walked away from court with an order for costs. The trial lasted 8 weeks.
R v S – Another private prosecution by FACT. It involved the importation and distribution of set top boxes which facilitated the illegal downloading of copy written material. A significant six-figure loss was alleged. The client was acquitted.
Miscellaneous and unusual cases:
R v H – Defended a mortician charged with theft of body parts from a number of different hospital mortuaries over a number of years. Secured a non-custodial sentence.
R v S – Defence of a fisherman in which the legitimacy of the entire European fishing quota system is in issue. Case to be heard in 2015.
Courts Martials:
R v G – Successful defence of an army major charged with two counts of negligent manslaughter at a live firing range in Canada where he was the Range Safety Officer.
R V MM – Successful defence of an army major indicted with espionage.