Adrian has a very good understanding of the financial world. He understands the commercial marketplace, the concepts behind it and the reality of dealing within it. He finds it easy to identify the key to any financial transaction and then communicate to others. He has the strong ability to intellectually understand the complex, but further to then explain it in clear and simple terms.
At the junior bar he spent a period practising commercial work. He adds to that the advocacy skills of an established criminal and regulatory silk.
He has experience of the many varied types of cases involving fraud; from the lengthy and complex to the short and intricate. He has the ability to digest and then marshal a huge volume of evidence. He prides himself on his relations with his client and further his ability to build and lead a team.
He has extensive appellate experience in the Court of Appeal and the High Court.
Languages
French
Other Information
Master of the Bench of the Inner Temple
Vice Chairman of the Anglo Thai Society
Member of the International Committee of the Inner Temple
Governor of the Warwick Independent Schools Foundation
Trustee of the Thomas White Charity
Recommendations
“Adrian is sharp and thorough. He has an enviable ability to sift huge amounts of complex information and distill it quickly and simply, getting to the crux of the case with ease. He has common sense in abundance and is tactically brilliant, always knowing which points to take and how best to articulate them.”
Legal 500 2023
“He takes a tactical approach to cases and there is never a stone left unturned. His preparation and the tactics he deploys are second to none.”
Chambers UK 2022
“He is fiercely bright and, whilst sensible, does not shy away from seeking results for clients that others may not dare to pursue. Always meticulously well prepared, he goes through the detail of his cases with a fine-tooth comb.”
Legal 500 2022
Significant experience of handling fraud cases. “Adrian is a first-class barrister, who has an innate sense for the right tactical approach to a case and a magical touch with juries and tribunals.”
Chambers UK 2020
Tier 1 Leading Silk in Crime, Regulatory Health and Safety and Licensing, and Inquests and Inquiries. “A great tactician.”
Legal 500 2020
Notable Cases
R v A
Successfully advised a solicitor accused of improper fee billing halting a proposed prosecution.
Re R (Westminster Magistrates)
Successfully represented a property development company and its director facing a private prosecution alleging fraud, and then obtained their costs on its discontinuance.
Re G
Represented a major haulier for Amazon in proceedings before the Traffic commissioner seeking to revoke their operating licence.
Middlesbrough Football Club (Nottingham Crown Court)
Represented the Club avoiding payment of a quarter of a million pounds to a player intermediary convicted of fraud.
R v MA Excavations (Bolton Magistrates)
Represented the Company in relation to the lifting of the financial penalty arising out of a work place death prosecuted under the health and safety act.
R v Ozgur Kaplan (Leeds Crown Court)
Represented Mr Kaplan charged with cheating the revenue in a multi million pound importation of alcohol through Poland. The trial lasted for 3 months and involved the complex analysis of several inter linking businesses.
DB (Solicitors Regulatory Authority)
Advised Mr B on allegations of the making of improper referral fees.
R v Shah and others (Southwark Crown Court)
Instructed by the CPS Fraud division to prosecute a 10-defendant multi million pound international money laundering ring. This complicated 2-month trial operated through Money Transfer Bureaus and spanned the world from China to the Gulf.
Solicitors Regulatory Authority v HM (Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal)
Represented Mr H a solicitor of 30 years before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. He had been charged with the misuse of client account money.
Coughlan v NCA (High Court)
Represented Mr Coughlan seeking to commit a serving officer of the NCA to prison for contempt of court for dishonesty in a proceeds of crime hearing. The case was the first of its type.
R v Reynolds (Worcester Crown Court)
Defence of a financial adviser charged with pension fraud. Overlap with FSA allegations.
Operation Elveden - R v W and R v F (Old Bailey)
Defended two News International Journalists over several months, charged with conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office for payments made to public officers.
H and H (West Mercia)
Represented two senior officers both accused of tax fraud.
Operation Goal (Birmingham Crown Court)
Prosecution of several linked trials involving money laundering and the wholesale commercial importation of vast quantities of drugs and the laundering of money nationwide.
Operation Springtide (Stafford Crown Court)
Prosecuted a 4-month Fraudulent Trading trial involving the commercial selling of electrical equipment imported fraudulently from China. The case centred around expert accountancy evidence.
R v Falloon (Court of Appeal)
Leading authority on what amounts to Misconduct in a Public Office.
R v FB (Norwich Crown Court)
Represented Mr FB charged with a high yield investment fraud worth over GBP40 million. The trial lasted 4 months.
R v X
Represented an established and highly successful Asian commercial family that faced various allegations of fraud and dishonesty. All allegations were dismissed
Operation Segmen (Winchester Crown Court)
Leading prosecution counsel in a series of cases arising out of a SOCA led investigation into drug dealing and money laundering in Bristol and through the First International Bank of Curacao. The case was the highest grade of SOCA work that attracted the personal attention of the Home Secretary.
Memberships
Association of Regulatory and Disciplinary Lawyers
Criminal Bar Association
Qualifications
MA (Hons) Trinity Hall, Cambridge
