Operation Seabrook
Together with Caroline Goodwin QC, defended a retired prison officer, alleged to have participated in widespread institutional abuse at Medomsley Detention Centre. The case had been launched by means of a national media blitz, allied with class action claims for financial compensation. These features, together with the criminal history of the complainants, gave rise to a disclosure process of exceptional breadth and complexity, especially in the area of legal professional privilege. The case also gave rise to an important legal issue about the propriety of charging misconduct in public office as an umbrella for a series of offences which otherwise would have been time barred.
Operation Sanctuary/Operation Shelter
Leading junior in the highly publicised prosecution for organised sexual exploitation in Newcastle upon Tyne. Secured an acquittal in relation to the principal charge of conspiracy to incite prostitution after a complex series of trials, including the voire dire involving the role of notorious police informant ‘XY’. (You can read about the proceedings here).
Operation Emerald
Acting again as a leading junior in a trial involving allegations of conspiracy to supply heroin and conspiracy to supply crack cocaine in the Newcastle and Middlesbrough areas. Another case involving the activities of informant ‘XY’, the proceedings had involved a complex, proactive police investigation.
Operation Jotter
Successfully obtained judge directed verdicts of not guilty, on two charges of conspiracy to supply drugs. This followed a submission of ‘no case to answer’ where the evidence did not disclose a common agreement or purpose, irrespective of the evidence that the defendant may have been involved in the supply of controlled substances.
R v Bellerby
Secured not guilty verdicts after trial on firearms and robbery charges, for the lead defendant alleged to have embarked on a gangland spree of shootings.
Operation Gunnell
Prosecuting, alone, a series of cross-border conspiracies to defraud, commonly known as vishing frauds. Hundreds of thousands of pounds had been inveigled from corporations and individuals, which were then funnelled through a complex series of bank accounts and then realised in cash.
Operation Bolt
Led junior in a prosecution involving the wholesale supply of cocaine, with a street value of hundreds of thousands of pounds, across the Pennines into Newcastle upon Tyne from Liverpool. Subsequently, took sole charge of the confiscation proceedings against multiple defendants, involving substantial assets and issues concerning protected third party equitable interests.
Operation Oceanic
Prosecuting a case of conspiracy to supply cocaine, arising from a complex, proactive investigation into the trans-Pennine trafficking of drugs.