In Penny Muir’s case, this was an Iranian man, who had converted from Islam to Christianity, which is an offence in Iran which can be punished by execution. Understandably, her client did not wish to cooperate with his deportation, even though he had already been held in prison in immigration detention in the UK for over five years. In Penny Muir’s view, this was a scandalous situation, and even though the defence available to this charge is extremely limited, she, along with counsel instructed, worked very hard on his defence over a period of several months, having defeated an initial argument brought before the court by the prosecution that he had no arguable defence! During the course of this, the client became ill, and eventually, the prosecution agreed to drop the case against him in the interests of justice. It is clear that the case shocked all those who heard about it, including the judge who presided over the matter, and he did all in his power to assist, by ordering a number of psychiatric reports to be paid for by the court.

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Our client was represented by the superb Anna Morris (Garden Court Chambers) who mitigated in full. Instead of ordering a custodial sentence of four years the sentencing Judge departed from the Sentencing Guidelines and sentenced him to a conditional discharge because the client had progressed successfully in drug rehabilitation.

Our client, in interview with police, had denied any involvement in the allegation, had raised alibi, denied any knowledge of his co-defendant and had asked police to obtain vital CCTV evidence on the night of the allegation when he was interviewed which would prove that he was not present at the time of the allegation.

Piers attended the locus and mapped out the number of relevant CCTV cameras. Jo had strived to obtain all relevant disclosure from the CPS who failed to respond at all.

At court on the day of the trial the CPS decided to drop the proceedings, acknowledging that there had been a fundamental failure to investigate the offence properly and our clients defence. They should also have admitted that they had failed to review the prosecution in light of defence representations.

Our client was delighted.

Written by Laura Saunsbury, consultant solicitor and head of our firearms law department, this essential guide will tell the shooting enthusiast everything he or she needs to know about getting, and keeping, a shotgun certificate or firearm license.

The book was co-written with leading firearms barrister Nick Doherty, and contains additional material from barrister Helen Dobby, so gives readers the benefit of wisdom from not just one but three expert legal brains.

That said, although the book will be useful to lawyers dealing with cases in this area, it is not intended purely as a lawyer’s text book. Rather, it is, as its title suggests, a handbook for all shooters covering many useful topics ranging from security to how to avoid or deal with all the common problems that arise on applications for grant or renewal of certificates.

At a price of £27.95 this is a worthwhile investment for all shooters, club secretaries and registered firearms dealers to ensure trouble free renewals and a good relationship with your firearms licensing officer.

The book can be ordered direct from the publishers Sweet & Maxwell or from Amazon (ISBN 978-0414044982). No sensible shooter should be without it, and its not too late to add it to your Christmas wish list!

Siobhain Egan defended a professional man of good character who, along with sixteen other defendants, faced a trial at Southwark Crown Court after the City of London Police and the CPS followed an investigation initiated by a complaint emanating from within the insurance industry. There were allegations of wrongdoing by various professionals in the conduct of personal injury litigation, which was considered by the City of London Police and the CPS to amount to the commission of criminal offences.

Over thirty people were interviewed by Police, and our client co-operated with the Police throughout whilst protesting his innocence. He gave lengthy detailed interviews to officers outlining his defence and provided them with a pile of documentation supporting that defence at the earliest opportunity.

We repeatedly and doggedly made representations to the CPS stating that in our view that there was no case to answer; we listed the matter for an old-style committal and a dismissal argument.

The scale of the prosecution was so large that it was labelled a Very High Cost Case by the LSC.

When the case arrived in Southwark Crown Court, thankfully an experienced Crown Court Judge also saw exactly the same weaknesses and issues with the prosecution of our client’s case, and repeatedly asked the CPS to review the prosecution.

Eventually, some three years on, they did – much to the relief of our client, his family and business partners.

We will now begin the process of recouping our client’s privately paid fees.

He was represented in court by Jeremy Ornstin who is our joint Equity Partner and heads up our successful Advocacy Department.

Recipients of these letters must respond within 28 days otherwise HMRC will commence a full investigation.

There may be a possible remedy in situations where only partial disclosure has been made.

Also bear in mind that HMRC can always authorise a criminal investigation focusing upon money laundering and POCA offences.

If you are in any doubt contact Jeffrey Lewis or Siobhain Egan immediately.

We represent a number of people in this situation and work closely with leading tax specialist accountants, all at reasonable rates.

Lewis Nedas has already opened a specialist sub-department defending individuals holding such accounts. We currently advise a number of clients in this regard.

We work with the best leading tax accountants, all at reasonable pricing levels.

Contact Jeffrey Lewis or Siobhain Egan.

A new specialist unit targeting offshore tax cheats has been launched by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC)

The Offshore Co-Ordination Unit (OCU) brings together a team of highly-skilled offshore analysts, technical tax experts and experienced investigators, who will oversee and co-ordinate HMRC’s compliance work to identify and pursue those who hide income and capital in offshore accounts to avoid UK tax and duties.

The unit will look to fully exploit the increasing amount of offshore information at HMRC’s disposal, including bank account data. They will then use this intelligence to develop innovative new ways of tackling offshore tax evasion.

The OCU will continue to build on the success of HMRC’s Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility (LDF) and co-ordinate the recently announced activity in relation to HSBC Geneva account holders. It will also implement the operational aspects of the recently signed tax agreement between Switzerland and the UK, which is expected to raise billions of pounds for the UK.

Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, David Gauke, said:

“The days when untaxed income or capital could be safely salted away offshore, beyond the reaches of the taxman, are long gone.

“The launch of this specialist unit, together with the other valuable work the department is driving forward in an effort to tackle offshore evasion, underlines the fact that offshore tax cheats are fast running out of places to hide.”