Success in conspiracy to commit arson case at Canterbury crown court

Shearman Bowen have secured an acquittal for a multi-millionaire director accused of conspiring with others to burn down a property from his high value portfolio. The Crown offered no evidence against our client shortly after the trial had commenced following a series disclosure requests formulated by senior partner Mark Bowen. John Burton QC and Christopher Bertham of 3 Temple Gardens were counsel instructed to represent the defendant.

Success in complex confiscation case

At Shearman Bowen we have built a reputation in recent years of successfully defending clients in complex confiscation proceedings. This trend has continued at Isleworth Crown Court. We were instructed to represent the defendant Ivan Marshall in his confiscation proceedings following his conviction for high level drug trafficking. The crown had originally sought a confiscation order in the sum of £3.5m.  After our confiscation department had prepared and submitted our client’s response we were able to make representations and negotiate with the crown to reach an agreed order of £5000 which was subsequently ratified by the court.

This case has continued to highlight the importance of taking a proactive defence approach in proceedings brought under the Proceeds of Crime act 2002. Shearman Bowen prides itself on its expertise in this area of law.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/newsarticles/2011/december/50-men-jailed-for-18-years

Murder case acquittal

Shearman Bowen & co have secured an acquittal for Daniel Riley on a charge of murder following his retrial at  the central criminal court. Represented by partner, Ben Holden, and Dominic Grieve QC, the jury unanimously acquitted our client.

This firm has now acted in six consecutive cases which have resulted in an acquittal for  clients who had been charged with murder. We are proud of our  established expertise of representing clients charged with the most serious criminal offence.

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/yourtown/oxford/9169106.Three_cleared_of_footballer_s_murder/

Further Success in Confiscation Proceedings

Shearman Bowen have achieved further success in two recent complex confiscation cases.

At Southwark Crown Court Vivien Cochrane represented the defendant Elesia Ho-Shing. The proceedings arose out of her conviction for fraud relating to £931,000 stolen from her employer, HSBC. the Crown originally sought a confiscation order against her for the full sum but after service of our defence response an order was agreed in the sum £109.

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/890319-broke-hsbc-worker-told-to-repay-59-of-1million-fraud

At the Old Bailey,  Mark Bowen represented Ashley Wiltshire where lengthy confiscation proceedings were recently concluded. The defendant faced a confiscation hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 following his conviction for large scale drug trafficking. Originally the Crown were seeking an order of £1.3 million  to denote the defendant’s alleged benefit from criminal conduct and with an order to pay the same amount. After submitting written responses on the defendant’s behalf and negotiation with the prosecution we were able to agree an order of  £23,000 to pay and a reduced criminal benefit figure of £229,000.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1329239/Superman-drugs-lord-branded-cocaine-pop-art-logos-jailed-years.html