Teacher Escapes Imprisonment

Siobhain Egan recently represented a teacher who had misrepresented his qualifications to his employers (breach of trust). The local authority sought repayment of his salary (£50,000) as compensation. He was superbly represented by Martin Lewis of counsel (Castle Chambers) who put forward detailed mitigation upon the client’s behalf, and the client was sentenced to a suspended term of imprisonment. The Court refused to make a compensation order.

Another Drugs Conspiracy Supply Success

Leila Abdul-Rasool, working with Unan Choudhury, represented an individual who, along with two co-defendants, faced an allegation of conspiring to supply ½ kilo of class A drugs (100% purity). The client was acquitted, both of his co-defendants convicted and he was brilliantly represented by David Burgess of counsel (9 Bedford Row). Our client was delighted.

New Consultant for Lewis Nedas

We are delighted to announce that Giovanni Lombardo has agreed to become a consultant with this practice. He is a property and probate specialist, is the official lawyer in the UK for the Italian Consulate, and is dually qualified both here and in Italy. He will be an additional asset to both our property and probate departments.

City Of London Fraud Squad Arrests

In a blaze of publicity, City of London Police have arrested numerous individuals suspected of involvement in a £20 million ‘boiler room fraud’, an alleged share scam involving European and Scandinavian countries.

If you are suspected of such an offence it is vital to instruct fraud specialists with a long established record of success. Last year alone Miles Herman successfully defended an individual who was acquitted of such an offence after a lengthy trial, and towards the end of last year Jeffrey Lewis and Siobhain Egan advised and represented an individual arrested in a very similar position. They were able to make representations to the Police which were sufficient to persuade them to discontinue proceedings.

Contact enquiries or Jeffrey Lewis.

Fast Moving Developments in Russian Extraditions

The growing number of extraditions from the EU to Russia has recently been the subject of international news.

We have a highly skilled and experienced team of extradition lawyers who deal with these cases. We also have Russian speaking staff and instruct highly regarded specialist barristers.

For further information please see RT’s coverage at http://rt.com/Top_News/2009-11-25/europe-extradites-russian-suspects.html

Excellent Sentencing Result in Fraud / Breach of Trust Case

Another stunning result for Leila Abdul-Rasool, whose client was given a suspended sentence with supervision at Southwark Crown Court on 4 January 2010 for false accounting.

There was a breach of trust as she was a secretary at a West End law firm, tasked with clearing the balances on a number of files that needed to be deaded. The allegation was that she drew up a number of cheque requests to pay disbursements i.e. counsel’s fees, yet the payees were not counsel but her boyfriend and a relative of her elderly neighbour. There were also other neighbours to whom money was paid.

The Crown accepted a plea on a limited basis. The amount stolen was in excess of £90,000.00 however she pleaded to false accounting of approximately £70,000.00.

The client was originally arrested about four years ago and was released on bail for a year and a half before being charged. She was made subject to a restraint order upon the application of her previous employers.

Counsel was Neelam Sharma of 187 Fleet Street.

Another Rape Defence Success for Lewis Nedas

Leila Abdul-Rasool represented a client on 10 December 2009 at Inner London Crown Court who was acquitted by unanimous verdict of attempted rape and indecent assault after a fully contested trial. At the time of the incident the client was 19 and the victim 14 years. Old law applied to the case as it pre-dated 2003 Act.

It was a historical allegation – the client came to be arrested five years after incident. He had a minor altercation with his wife that was not proceeded with, but he was discovered wanted by a DNA match. He spent three months in prison before being bailed. Due to the nature of the offence, Social Services became involved with his family and he was not allowed unsupervised contact with his children.

The complainant gave a number of different accounts. A basis of plea that they had had sexual contact (kissing and hugging) which was consensual was put forward, on which the Prosecutor sought the views of the victim. She said that she did not agree, but would accept the basis. This was relayed to the judge who then threatened to have the victim arrested for perverting the course of justice. The following day the Crown said that they would be proceeding to trial on both counts, after which the client was unanimously found not guilty.

Counsel was John Femi-Ola of 3 Temple Gardens.

Polish Extradition Requests Increase

An interesting article in this week’s Spectator (2^nd-8^th January 2010, p.23) highlights the extraordinary increase of extradition/Euro-warrant requests made particularly by Poland (though other Eastern European countries make similar requests).

This has caused enormous concern amongst legal professionals who have strong misgivings about the quality of justice afforded to arrestees as a result of these fast track extradition requests.

It is expected that from April 2010 the number of these extradition/Euro-warrants will increase threefold.

We have an excellent, high quality, dedicated team of extradition specialists and use the best Polish/Eastern European interpreters.

Incredible Mortgage Fraud Success for Lewis Nedas

Keith Wood, one of our fraud specialists, was instructed in a complex, large scale mortgage fraud involving self-certification mortgages where the advances were in excess of £1million. Following expert preparation and negotiation by Keith and brilliant representation by Stephen Ferguson of counsel (2 Bedford Row), the Prosecution accepted our client’s case and a not guilty verdict was recorded for all charges faced.

New Instruction on Large Scale UK-Franco Drugs Conspiracy

Penny Muir has been instructed to represent an individual who faces an allegation of conspiring to possess 26kgs of amphetamines. Four other conspirators have been convicted in France and are serving terms of imprisonment. Interestingly this allegation involves staff at Dover Docks.