Summer News Update: Shooters and Hooters - MPR expanding to Hammersmith and Wembley

July and August have traditionally been slow periods in the legal calendar but MPR Solicitors LLP has bucked the trend with a flurry of legal activity. Here is a round-up of some of the latest news items for the summer period.

New offices in Hammersmith and Wembley.

To cater for our expanding client base, we took the decision to open strategic offices in Hammersmith and Wembley where clients can be seen by appointment only. The offices are situated in fully serviced office blocks with all modern amenities. If you would like to book an appointment, please contact our main switchboard on 020 3824 8080 for further details.

Success in the Court of Appeal

July saw MPR Solicitors conduct 2 successful appeals in the Court of Appeal, one against sentence and one against conviction. In the appeal against sentence, the Defendant’s sentence was reduced by a total of 8 months, the equivalent to over one third. The case involved a serious White Collar fraud matter. The result achieved was beyond the client’s expectation and a resounding achievement for the Firm’s advocacy department.

In the appeal against conviction, a Defendant’s 18 year sentence for one of the largest importations of ecstasy and amphetamine in recent years worth over £1 million, was overturned in the Court of Appeal. The appeal hinged on the admissibility of non-conviction bad character evidence and its relation to Section 98 and Section 101 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. The Court of Appeal was extremely critical of the way the Prosecution and the Crown Prosecution Service had handled the bad character application. The Appeal Court quashed our client’s conviction on the basis that the prosecution had used the wrong section of the Criminal Justice Act to adduce the bad character evidence and the trial judge had given a seriously flawed direction to the jury that deprived the Defendant of a fair trial. This case is likely to have wide-reaching consequences as to the conduct of future prosecutions and their approach to the admissibility of bad character evidence.

Our lawyers and advocates have a wealth of experience in dealing with appeals against conviction and sentence and can take appeals on even if MPR Solicitors were not the original defence lawyers in a case. If you would like to discuss your case in confidence with us, then please contact Seema Parikh on 0203 824 8080 or by email seema@mprsolicitors.co.uk or by writing to us at our Head Office at 8 Red Lion Court, Alexandra Road, Hounslow, Middlesex, TW3 1JS.

Central London jewellery heist – client cleared of all allegations

July saw one of our clients who faced allegations of conspiracy to commit armed robbery cleared of all matters. The case was being handled by our specilaist police station team at MPR Solicitors who specialise in police station representation. Our astute legal advice at the police station and subsequent representations to the relevant authorities ensured that our client’s case was not proceeded with. Legal representation at the police station is where a client’s defence begins and the right advice is critical. All our solicitors are widely experienced in representing clients at the police station and this advice in free of charge whatever your financial circumstances. We offer 24 hour police station representation across London and the South East and in some circumstances can attend nationwide. Please call us on 020 3824 8080.

Bribery Act 2010

We have been asked by corporate clients as to when the Act will come into force and what impact it will have on their businesses. We intend to publish a detailed e-news briefing in the next few months but for now the Bribery Act 2010 will come into force in April 2011 and not October 2010 as previously envisaged. The Act will make businesses subject to another layer of regulatory compliance and a new strict liability offence of failing to prevent bribery. The only defence available to businesses will be to prove that they had “adequate procedures” in place within their corporate structure to prevent illicit payments from being made. We can advise businesses on compliance issues and can assist in developing and drafting policies to comply with the Act. For further information as to how your business could be affected and what you will need to do to comply with the Bribery Act 2010, please contact Seema Parikh at the Firm’s Regulatory Department on 0203 824 8080 or email seema@mprsolicitors.co.uk

Outstanding result at Kingston Crown Court in large £1 million drug ring – Operation Safeco

We represented a Defendant who had been charged with others of conspiracy to supply large amounts of Class A drugs. The Prosecution had tried to adduce further evidence of a conspiracy to supply Class B drugs but this was later held by the Court to be inadmissible. After some lengthy and protracted dealings with the Prosecution, we were able to negotiate a basis of plea for our client which was extremely favourable, the end result being that our client received a sentence of just 3 years and 4 months for his involvement in a conspiracy involving 3 kilos of high grade cocaine. The Crown had intended to appeal the sentence as being unduly lenient as the sentence was by all accounts unprecedented in its leniency for this type of offence. For whatever reason known only to the Prosecution, they did not embark on an appeal. We like to think they simply ran out of time!

July to August 2010: new instructions

We received on average 3 new instructions per day during July to August 2010 which is a testament to our solid reputation both locally and nationwide in Criminal Defence and Appeal work including miscarriages of justice.

The instructions included a wide spectrum of offences from cases involving theft, fraud, child abduction, firearms offences, terrorism offences, robbery and murder.