Practice Profile

A criminal practitioner who frequently appears in long multi-handed cases, specialising in all forms of grave and violent crimes, including homicide, manslaughter, major drug importations or supply and related money laundering offences, cases of serious fraud, criminal copyright infringements and judicial review of criminal proceedings before the Administrative Court.

Cases

R. v. Suddiqi & Others
A Chartered Accountant charged with a conspiracy to defraud over £1million, who was prosecuted by the Inland Revenue. A complex case that revolved around the legality of tax positions of clients both on and off shore.

R. v. Reid & Others
The Rotherham Council Fraud. Mr Reid was prosecuted by the special casework directorate of the CPS, as an ex Leader of the Council he was involved in a large scale conspiracy to defraud, involving the misuse of public funds and misfeasance in public office.

R. v. Foyle & Others
Fraudulent trading, prosecuted by the DTI. A large fresh food sales conspiracy to defraud, involving just under £1 million pounds worth of goods and services being stripped from a well established direct supplier to the fresh fish market.

R. v. Brown & Others
The Dunblane Firearms Legislation Surrender compensation conspiracy. Mr Brown, as a leading shooting sportsman was one of the only private individuals in the country to be prosecuted by the Special Casework Directorate for claiming too much money for the weapons he surrendered under the national amnesty. He was prosecuted alongside Police Officers from South Yorkshire who managed and manipulated the scheme to the advantage of the surrendering party. Mr Brown’s case was stopped following a substantial and successful abuse of process submission, revolving around article 6 and 7 ECHR and the nature of the secondary legislation giving rise to the scheme.

R. v. Forrester & Others
A large scale drugs importation into Kent prosecuted by Customs & Excise, involving at the time the largest known quantity of seized cannabis (2 tonnes) and amphetamine (70 kilos) to be traced in the UK.

R. v. Wright & Others
A large scale and multi-handed drugs conspiracy based on one years observation of a gang involving the importation of cannabis from Morroco via Southern Spain and then sailed via boat into the UK. Prosecuted by Customs & Excise it was one of the first UK cases in which they sought to use covert tap evidence from an outside jurisdiction in evidence in the UK.

R. v. Kiernan & Others
The largest scale drugs importation into the UK ever. The defendants were charged with various conspiracies ranging over 4 years to import cocaine in excess of 4 tonnes from South America via a number of sailing boats. The case concerned substantial observations by Customs & Excise, a large volume of telephone traffic (in excess of 1 million telephone calls between defendants alone), international and national covert taping of defendants, retrospective navigational evidence, forecast and hindcast weather evidence and evidence of horse race fixing on the largest scale with the corruption of jockeys and needling of horses. There were substantial disclosure issues throughout the trial, with continuing and numerous PII hearings (and disclosure), material from MI5, MI6 and the Jockey Club security department. The trial lasted 14 months.

R. v. Raymond Brown & Others
Prosecuted by the Serious Fraud Office, the case concerned mortgage frauds committed on residential properties in the North Yorkshire area which came to light after the collapse of a solicitors firm in Bradford. Mr Brown, the only professional at trial, worked in the solicitors conveyancing department at the time and handled the various transactions in question. The case involved a substantial amount of disclosure dealing with the OSS from the Law Society.

R. v. Watts & Others
Prosecuted by the Serious Fraud Office, the defendants were charged with a number of conspiracies to defraud over 4 years extracting money from two environmental bodies, which were set up and run under the Landfill Tax Regulations. I represented one of the directors of a management company, who acted as a consultant to the environmental body concerned. The case touched on a multiplicity of complex issues, including secondary legislative interpretation, the use of Parliamentary Select Committees and the diversion of funds that was neither a gift nor a payment of tax by the landfill operator.

R. v. Thompson & Another
I represented an accountant who held the position of finance director of a window company. He was charged with stealing from the company by various means. The crux of the case revolved around tracing substantial disclosure from the Prosecution as well as third party, the failure by the prosecution to follow the AG guidelines and an abuse of process submission supported by significant disclosure the defence had unearthed.

R. v. Fletcher
Represented a headmaster of a primary school charged with historical sexual abuse of children.

R. v. Fellows
Attempted stranger murder. I represented a travelling salesman accused of clubbing a 16 year old girl over the head with a hammer 16 times and leaving her for dead.

R. v. Berry & Others
A large scale drugs and cigarettes importation case prosecuted by Customs & Excise, which involved a client who maintained he acted on behalf MI5 and then when abroad the CIA. Substantial PII hearings and disclosure issues arose. A complicating factor was waiting for the client whilst he was held on double murder charges in Afghanistan before he was spirited out the country by the UK government – without explanation.

R. v. Forbes & Another
Drugs importation of £1 million worth of cocaine into North Yorkshire following a years observations by the Organised and Serious Crime Police Unit.

R. v. Keating & Others
The largest multi-handed car ‘ringing’ case in the country in scale and value of 4 x4 motor cars involved. The case raised significant issues of disclosure and police practice which eventually was argued as an abuse of the courts’ process. Police officers involved in this case were later prosecuted themselves for perjury.

R. v. Deb & Others
A large scale credit card cloning fraud. I represented one of two brothers who owned and ran a restaurant in South Yorkshire where credit cards were compromised and thereafter used for illegal purchases.

R. v. Negrotti & Others
The ‘Vow of Silence Case’. A Hells Angel called Megson was convicted of murder as he said nothing at his trial and offered no defence, he maintained a vow of silence that his chapter had required of him. After 5 years of his life sentence the BBC ‘Rough Justice’ team reinvestigated the case. They traced his girlfriend who ultimately did break that vow. They broadcast the programme. The new evidence resulted in an appeal against conviction in the Court of Appeal. Megson’s conviction was quashed on her ‘fresh’ evidence and he was released. I represented one of the Hells Angel’s gang who had accompanied Megson on the night of the murder. After the Appeal my client was subsequently arrested and charged with the murder. The case was a substantial and historical re-investigation of a murder (and earlier murder trial) which involved considerable issues of third party legal disclosure from the BBC.

R. v. Tomlinson
I represented a 16 year old boy charged with the murder of another youth who attacked him with a Samurai sword. The client had significant mental health issues and was of very low intelligence.

R. v. Morrison & Another
The ‘home made bullets’ case. Morr

Reported Cases:
R. v. Sheffield Crown Court ex parte Headley [2000] 2 Cr.App.R.1