This case involved a conspiracy to defraud the Metropolitan Police, in events arising from the investigations into the July 7th 2005 London Bombings.
Following the London bombings a number of SO19 police officers from the Metropolitan Police Force were deployed to Leeds to undertake covert investigations, in the aftermath of the 2005 attacks as part of Operation Theseus, a widespread investigation into the bombers’ background.
Scotland yard officers were initially put up in hotels after being deployed to Leeds but were later moved to apartments. We represented the brother in law of one of the officers deployed, who had arranged for a lettings firm to provide four apartments which were smaller and not fully serviced, unlike the legitimate apartments provided for the other team of officers.
Following an 11 day trial at London Southwark Crown Court a serving counter terrorism officer and his wife were found guilty of conning the Metropolitan Police Force out of more than £93,000.00.
Our client pleaded guilty to his part in the conspiracy at a very early stage and received a lenient sentence equating to a third of that of the officer.
Needless to say, the evidence in this case was voluminous and consisted of many files and documents relating to what had taken place. There was also a significant level of interest in what had happened because the alleged offenders were largely police officers serving in elite units, who had been engaged in investigating some of the most serious and high-profile offences of recent years.
Our advice enabled our client to maintain the correct tactical approach to the case, leading to a suitably shortened sentence.