June 2010
First Minimum Wage Prosecution
In one of only seven prosecutions nationally and the first in the North West, Mike Rainford of our Fraud/Regulatory team represented an optician who breached the provisions of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 by not paying staff the rate required by law.
May 2010
Great Victory in Goldfish Case
We successfully appealed the sentence of Joan and Mark Higgins who were placed on security tag and community work respectively for selling a goldfish to a 15 year old. They both received a conditional discharge.
March 2010
The Cream of Manchester
At the inaugural Manchester Legal Awards held at the Midland Hotel, Manchester on 4th March, we were delighted to win the award for Crime/Regulatory Team of the Year. We were nominated along with four other teams from highly respected firms in Manchester.
Our theme song in the judging process was Chariots of Fire by Vangelis. "By improvising and relying upon the film script we identify with a tune without lyrics. We are a valiant team – gold medal and Oscar winners in a field of worthy competitors: dedicated in representation, passionate in advocacy, meticulous in preparation, unerring in our ideals and seldom for the high jump".
January 2010
VANCE MILLER, self-styled largest privately owned kitchen retailer in the World, acquitted of alleged fraud
On 12th January 2010, after a trial which began on the 14th September 2009, Vance Miller and two other co-defendants also represented by Burton Copeland, were acquitted at Manchester Crown Court, following successful legal submissions made by the defence at the conclusion of the prosecution case.
VANCE MILLER, self-styled largest privately owned kitchen retailer in the World, acquitted of alleged fraud
The case concerned the kitchen business conducted by Vance Miller from Maple Mill in Oldham and involved 3 counts of conspiracy to defraud customers and 10 alleged offences under the Trade Descriptions Act 1968. The case arose following numerous raids on the business premises and the homes of Vance Miller and his co-defendants at 5am on the 29th November 2006 by 130 Police and Trading Standards officers in what at the time was described by the largest raid ever carried out by a Trading Standards office. Investigators removed equipment and 270,000 pages of paperwork essential to the running of the business. The central thrust of the accusations against Miller and the others was that they falsely represented that the kitchens which they sold were made of real or solid wood when they were not.
HHJ Foster QC, the presiding judge gave a 14 page written ruling which stated that the investigation by Oldham Trading Standards was misconceived from the start. The learned judge concluded that the prosecution was an abuse of the process of the court; and that on 2 of the counts of conspiracy there was no case for the defendants to answer. Earlier he had quashed the 10 Trade Descriptions Act allegations as out of time.
So ended a period of just over 3 years during which Vance Miller had fought to keep his business going, and his large workforce employed, despite numerous obstacles, including the potential damage to his reputation and despite having to prepare for his trial. However, he did have a high moment in December 2008, when another case also brought against him by Oldham Trading Standards, this time for selling allegedly dangerous quad bikes, collapsed after 10 days because of the inadequacy of the Oldham Trading Standards’ expert evidence.
Throughout he has been advised by Alan Neal of Burton Copeland’s serious fraud unit.
Click here to see the BBC News report
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December 2009
Burton Copeland top ranked in Chambers
The firm has been awarded top ranking in Band 1 for Crime in the North West in the 2010 edition of leading legal directory Chambers UK and three individuals, Mike Mackey, Gill Crossley and Gwyn Lewis have been named as Leaders in their Field, with Louise Straw being included as a specialist lawyer.
October 2009
‘Brilliant’ nurse cleared of common assault
Jessimol Patson of Prenton, Wirral, represented by Louise Straw, was cleared of common assault after a paramedic, who objected to the method she used to assist a 98 year old dementia sufferer to her feet after her arm was fractured in a fall, raised concerns with her employers. She was later charged with the assault and the police became involved. Colleagues called to give evidence called her an ‘excellent’ and ‘brilliant’ nurse and her manager praised her dedication. Far from grabbing the patient’s broken arm it was established that proper support was provided by Mrs Patson.
October 2009
Tobacco smuggling confiscation orders may be challenged
It may be possible for individuals to challenge confiscation orders received for tobacco smuggling under the 1992 Excise Duty Regulations. For free initial advice contact: mrainford@burtoncopeland.com
August 2009
No Hate Crime
A client was given a 6 month conditional discharge and ordered to pay court costs after he was found guilty of common assault but it was found that he did not commit a so called ‘hate crime’ when he attacked his gay brother-in-law and his partner. The Crown had argued that the client committed the offence because he was homophobic, which was not accepted by the Court.
July 2009
Confiscation Order Quashed
In an interesting case recently, our client, Joseph Clarke, had pleaded guilty to concealing criminal property contrary to s327 Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and was given a conditional discharge. The prosecution applied for a confiscation order and the Judge duly obliged. The order was quashed at the Court of Appeal on the basis that the Crown Court had no power to make the order following Mr Clarke’s conviction for which he had received an absolute or conditional discharge.
May 2009
A Rare Victory
The prevention of an order in confiscation proceedings is virtually impossible to achieve but an abuse of process hearing preventing such an order was won on the basis that the victims of a theft had been compensated by our client and that an order in those circumstances would be oppressive.
April 2009
Fined £5k for Faxing
In only the second prosecution of its kind in the UK under the Data Protection Act 1998, a client was fined £5000, reduced from the maximum of £125000 for transmitting unsolicited fax messages.
Covert Surveillance Still Permitted
A decision on 12th March 2009 in the House of Lords in C & A v Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland confirmed that covert surveillance of communication between solicitors and their clients, covered by legal professional privilege, was still permitted under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. This is a fundamental decision and one which will inevitably make lawyers wary and cautious when discussing matters with detained clients, especially at police stations.
Judgement in Large Benefit Fraud Case
The Fraud team acted for Lorraine Bell in a widely publicised case involving a conspiracy to obtain benefits in excess of £600,000. The sentence of two and a half years imprisonment reflected the circumstances of the case in which it was clear from comments made in court that the client's mother was the prime mover in the offences, leading to her being severely criticised by the trial Judge.
Significant Panel Appointment
We are delighted to have been appointed for a three year period to the Lit-Cat panel of the department of the Treasury Solicitor of HM Government for Regulatory and Criminal Litigation and Advice, covering the North West, North Wales and the North East. Mike Mackey will head up the team of advocates and paralegals providing the necessary advice, case preparation and representation in proceedings. This appointment is seen as significant and adds to other panel memberships including the Health and Safety Executive, the Police Federation and the Royal College of Nursing.
High profile kitchen salesman Vance Miller cleared of selling dangerous Quad bikes
Following intense cross-examination of the prosecution’s technical expert and after a week of legal argument and evidence at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court, Oldham Trading Standards who had brought the case, decided to offer no further evidence against Mr Miller and the trial Judge instructed the jury to find him “not guilty” on all nine counts relating to the sale of allegedly dangerous quad bikes. The Judge also ordered that the costs of Mr Miller’s defence should be paid for from Central Funds.
The case was prepared by Alan Neal of the Commercial Fraud team.
ASBO Granny walks free
A grandmother who had never been convicted of a criminal offence but who had spent over five months in custody has been released pending appeal of the original imposition of the Anti-Social Behaviour Order.
The woman, who had suffered a breakdown after the collapse of her marriage, was known to be responsible for hundreds of nuisance calls to the police. None were false ‘999’ calls and all police operators were aware of her identity.
Granting bail pending appeal His Honour Judge Steiger questioned whether the ASBO should have been made in the first place.
Munchausens Mother Cleared
At the end of a trial consequent on an investigation lasting over 3 years, a mother was cleared, at Wood Green Crown Court, of allegations that she had fabricated illness in her infant child, thus resulting in Doctors at various hospitals carrying out surgery and other procedures that were not necessary. A team headed by Mike Mackey had reviewed medical notes running in to hundreds of pages and which demonstrated that ‘medical experts’ for the Crown simply could not have read the papers. Their conclusions were untenable.
Unusually, earlier findings in the Family Division, based on the same flawed evidence were to be reviewed.
‘Sorry M’Luds, You are wrong’: Court of Appeal Corrected
Following a successful appeal launched on behalf of a driver banned for causing death by dangerous driving, Gwyn Lewis was placed in the unenviable position of correcting their Lordships, who had proposed a sentence that in itself was unlawful. The error was gracefully accepted by their Lordships and a more favourable result ensued.
