Tony Watkin

Regulatory

Tony is a well-respected specialist in regulatory law on the West Midlands Circuit, prosecuting and defending at all levels. He has been consistently recognised in the directories for his performance. He has a practical and down-to-earth approach to his cases and recognises the importance of working as a team with his client in order to secure the best outcome.

Tony is regularly instructed by Local Authorities to conduct their most complex cases and is brought in to advise at the very early stages of an investigation. He has significant experience in applications under the Proceeds of Crime Act and recently secured a confiscation order in excess of £500,000 following his successful prosecution of a company and its directors for the largest ever timeshare fraud case brought by Warwickshire Trading Standards. Tony received particular praise from the Trial Judge for the way he conducted the 3-month trial.

Other recent highlights of his practice include:

• Environment Agency v Springhill Farms: Mr Watkin acted for the Defendant in a rare prosecution for unlawful discharge of nitrates into a river.
• Warwickshire Fire Service v Talash Hotels: Mr Watkin successfully prosecuted hotel owners of the Falstaff hotel in Leamington Spa for significant breaches of the Fire Safety Order.
• Cannock Chase DC v Ryan Shenton and others: Mr Watkin acted for the prosecution in a Health and safety prosecution against directors of a company arising from the death of a patron of the Quartz Nightclub.
• Warwickshire CC v The Meat Shack and Simon Drust – Acting for the prosecution in a prosecution for food fraud resulting in substantial sentence of imprisonment for Director and confiscation order for £300K.
• Staffs CC v Foster: Tony successfully prosecuted a counterfeiting case and secured a confiscation order together with costs at £600,000, payable immediately, following the Defendant’s earlier conviction for dealing in counterfeit DVDs which led to a 16 month custodial sentence.
• Defending a multinational corporation in the Crown Court in a sensitive prosecution brought against it for Health and Safety at Work Act breaches in which a number of young children were seriously injured whilst using equipment manufactured and supplied by it.
• Junior Defence Counsel in a prosecution at the Old Bailey brought on behalf of the DTI/BERR against the subsidiary of a Japanese multinational corporation and its Managing Director for alleged breaches of the
  UK export control regime.
• Prosecuting a misleading nutritional health claims case against a company and its director where Leading and Junior Counsel were instructed for the defence.
• Prosecuting an Asbestos management and surveying company and its directors for Health and Safety at Work Act offences.
• Prosecuting a number of individual defendants in the Crown Court for conspiracy to defraud and trademarks offences following the seizure of £1.5M of counterfeit clothing from a warehouse in Birmingham.
• Prosecuting a large-scale food fraud case in which the Defendant company and its directors had stolen the identity of a legitimate meat processing and handling plant.
• Acting on behalf of the local authority in a two-week trial against Leading Counsel in an application for an Enforcement Order under the Enterprise Act.

Specific Practice Areas:

• Fire Safety
• Health and safety (including related inquests) Consumer protection
• Trademarks and counterfeiting
• Animal welfare
• Food safety
• Fraud
• Export control
• Environmental/Statutory Nuisance
• Director Disqualification
• Proceeds of crime
• Further information

Tony provides regular training to Trading Standards Services
in areas such as criminal procedure, large-scale fraud, and consumer protection law.