Organised Crime
The Serious and Organised Crime Group at St Philips boasts a team of barristers who have a wealth of experience in the prosecution and defence of this area of work. Members of the group have prosecuted and defended in some of the leading cases that have been heard in the Midlands and further a field; many of these have been cases of national importance and notoriety. There has been strong growth in the area of terrorism work and drawing on their experience, members of the group have delivered training to other legal professionals on the intricacies of terrorism law.
In the prosecution of these cases the group work closely alongside members of the security services, SOCA, the Organised Crime departments of the major Midland police forces and the prosecuting agencies. Members of the group have developed real expertise in the most sensitive fields, presenting and effectively challenging covertly gathered material; regularly utilising the provisions of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.
The Group is able to deploy an unrivalled level of depth and breadth of expertise reaching from the prosecution and defence of gangland killings to drugs importation, people trafficking, animal activists and terrorism. A short consideration, by topic, of the cases in which members of the group have been engaged in the recent past best demonstrates the capabilities of the group. (Please note that for reasons for security cases linked to terrorism have been omitted from the overview set out below)
Murder:
The prosecution and defence of a gang for the killing of Charlene Ellis and Letisha Shakespeare. Reported as one of the leading authorities on the anonymity of witnesses.
The prosecution and defence of the gangland biker M40 murder.
The prosecution of the members of a notorious Birmingham gang for the shooting of a nightclub bouncer.
The prosecution of a drug related gang killing.
Drugs:
The prosecution and defence of 10 handed conspiracy to supply Class A drugs across the Midlands.
The prosecution and defence of a 12 handed conspiracy to import and supply some 20million worth of cannabis.
The prosecution of a 10 handed conspiracy to import and supply 150 kg of high purity cocaine this was the largest seizure of cocaine ever made in the West Midlands.
The prosecution of a 6 handed conspiracy to import bulk loads of cannabis from the continent. Telephone calls intercepted in Holland formed a part of the prosecution evidence.
The prosecution of a multi-handed drugs supply network infiltrated by the use of undercover officers.
Organised Fraud:
The prosecution of a gang of men obtaining and selling on numerous high value cars. Some 1 million worth of cars obtained.
Animal Rights:
The prosecution of the first contested case under section 145 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 conspiracy to harm an animal research organisation.
People Trafficking:
The prosecution and defence of an organised crime group arranging for the illegal immigration of large numbers of workers from Asia extorting huge sums from them.
