Furnival Chambers

Heads of Chambers: Michael Holland KC, Pippa McAtasney KC

Senior Clerk: Stephen Ball

Tenants: 79

High profile and complex prosecution and defence cases in 2022 include following cases of particular note:

Rhiannon Crimmins KC (in her first murder trial in Silk) secured acquittal on all charges of murder and manslaughter. The jury returned verdicts of not guilty following a trial in which the issue was accident/self-defence.

Charlie Sherrard KC secured the acquittal of his client charged with murder, arising out of ‘honey trap killing’ (His client was the only defendant acquitted of murder.) Also, he and Alexia Power secured acquittal for amother charged with murdering her three-year-old son.

Stephen Moses KC secured the dismissal of Murder and GBH charges against their client at Newport Crown Court, following a dismissal application that involved in-depth analysis of phone evidence, the law on joint enterprise and circumstantial evidence. Julia Smart KC secured the unanimous acquittal of a Championship footballer accused of rape at Lewes CC.

Caroline Haughey OBE KC won the Human Trafficking Foundation's Award of the best opinion piece category are and Dr Rowan Williams for their articles examining the consequences of the Nationality and Borders Act for survivors of trafficking. Caroline Haughey KC in The Independent, ‘To Trample over the Intentions of the Modern Slavery Act is Reprehensible.’

Manveer Cheema secured the acquittal of a man charged with robbing elite cyclist Mark Cavendish at knifepoint. The robbers made off with a safe and a Richard Mille watch (£700,000). The same jury found the co-defendant guilty. News story here

THE CHAMBERS Furnival Chambers is regarded as one of the country’s leading criminal & white collar sets offering an impressive and high quality list of advocates and advisors. Members specialise across practice areas of serious and organised crime, financial crime, bribery & corruption, gross negligence manslaughter, regulatory/professional discipline, asset forfeiture and extradition. Chambers’ reputation is best exemplified by involvement in most of the recent major criminal and white collar trials to be heard from fraud to murder, and from gross negligence manslaughter to xxtradition. The quality of service extends to its progressive clerking team led by a senior clerk with a justified reputation for efficiency and integrity. Individuals, professionals and corporate clients instruct chambers either through solicitors, professional advisers, or on a public direct access basis.

THE SET Members are renowned for appearing in high-profile criminal and white collar cases, both for defence and prosecution. They appear in the Crown Court, Divisional Court, Court of Appeal, Privy Council and Supreme Court, as well as the European Court of Human Rights and before regulatory/disciplinary panels. Members undertake high-profile work on behalf of or against the Financial Conduct Authority, HM Revenue and Customs, the Serious Fraud Office, the Department of Work and Pensions, the Crown Prosecution Service, the Football Association and other sports and disciplinary/regulatory bodies. Members regularly advise corporates on issues concerning the Bribery Act 2010. Furnival is a ‘go to set’ for high-profile, complex cases and those involving novel law including the first ‘Judge alone trial’; the first Bribery Act prosecution; the first modern slavery trial (and most of the subsequent significant cases under MSA); and the first successful FGM trial. Members have experience in cold cases and Criminal Case Review Commission applications and conduct cases in Commonwealth & other jurisdictions (including the Caribbean).

WORK UNDERTAKEN Chambers enjoys particular expertise in the following fields:

Corporate & Financial Crime: Chambers offers considerable experience in all areas of corporate and financial (white collar) crime in both UK & international jurisdictions. Members advise companies and national newspapers on issues arising out of the Bribery & Corruption Act 2010. Members are instructed on some of the largest high value fraud and asset forfeiture cases in recent years including Operation Yuletide (merchant banker assisting in the laundering of €100m defrauded from a Dutch shipbuilding company), Operation Banjax (£100m VAT fraud), Operation Stagecoach (£7m rare earth metal boiler room), bribery allegations within the building and construction industry (Polycarpou). Other recent high profile frauds include UBS Rogue Trader Case (Adoboli), Goldman Sachs (Wilkins), and multi-million carbon credit fraud (R-v-H) as well as the first professional cricket ‘spot fixing’ case. Members experience includes all forms of fraud, MTIC/VAT tribunal hearings, market abuse including insider dealing and rate manipulation, through to asset recovery, forfeiture, restraint and confiscation. Members are experienced in providing specialist advisory services to clients, both individual and corporate both generally (in relation to compliance) and in connection to specific investigations. Members have been retained to advise and act for and against the SFO, FCA (FSA), CPS, UKBA, the police, HMRC and public companies and high-net worth individuals in international/multi-jurisdictional proceedings, recently including global dividend-arbitrage and withholding tax reclaim investigations and the Alstom bribery investigation.

Serious & Organised Crime: Chambers has long been instructed in top-end work at trial and appellate levels including R-v-Twomey, the first Judge alone trial, the first post-Jogee murder appeals, the News International phone hacking (Operation Elvedon) trials, the Hatton Garden heist, the ‘Pentonville murder’ trial, the Jodie Chesney murder, the Stephen Lawrence murder, the murder of ‘Baby P’, the ‘Witchcraft murder’ Ife, the successful defence of those tried for the death of a family member following ‘botched exorcism’, the ‘Gypsy Slavery’ cases, Operation Fort (Panorama featured), the Jonty Bravery case and the Sally Challen appeal.

Terrorism: Members have appeared in terrorism trials for decades including the Gloucester shoe bomber, the first Al Qa’eda funding prosecution post 9/11, the Afghan Stansted hijacking, the ‘Ricin’ conspiracy, and recent Al Qa’eda and Syria-related cases.

Sexual Offences: Members have appeared in Operation Yewtree cases, Operation Goldfinch (Welsh Children’s Home Child Abuse); the Aylesbury & Oxford sex ring case; Rolf Harris; Liam Allen; the ‘West End mini cab rapist’, the M25 rapist, the Steve Cook trial and the Grime artist Solo 45 rape trial.

Extradition: Members are at the forefront of this specialised area of law and appear in ground-breaking cases; appearing in proceedings at first instance, before the High Court, the Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights. Members are instructed in the highest profile cases including Government of USA v Julian Assange, and Government of India v Nirav Modi (‘diamondaire’ businessman sought over alleged $1 billion fraud). Members advise individuals who are (or may be) subject to Red Notices. Recent instructions also include Government of India v Singh – re conspiracy to murder Indian politicians, Government of Hungary v Orsos and Government of USA v Yolanda Cleveland.

Regulatory & Disciplinary: Chambers has a highly regarded regulatory team who provide exceptional representation for the financial industry, the professions and sports industry. Chambers has vast experience in regulatory and disciplinary proceedings before the SRA, GMC, GDC, GOC, NMC, the HCPC (including the Morecambe Bay Healthcare Trust case). Chambers appears in related proceedings before the Crown Court, Coroner’s Court (including the London Bridge Inquest), public inquiries and mental health review tribunals. Recent successes include representing two prison officers charged with gross negligence manslaughter. Members also appear before Football Association and other sports regulatory authorities, both for the authorities and individuals/teams concerned.

Clerking & Practice Support: The clerking team is highly regarded, approachable and dedicated, led by senior clerk, Stephen Ball. Throughout 2022, Chambers’ management, data processing, website and premises underwent considerable change and improvement. Since March 2022 Chambers IT structure is now fully IS27001 & Cyber Essentials-compliant, with VoIP telephony and secure remote data storage & sharing function. In September 2022 we moved to 16, Took’s Court, London EC4A 1LB, a location more commensurate with the nature of a modern criminal practice in terms of size, character, cost, location and technical specification - features already appreciated by professional and lay clients alike - but which also provide a first-class working environment for staff and counsel.

Tom Robinson was appointed Fees and Finance clerk and Rachael Gray Junior Diary Clerk on 1 March 2023.