Our Sam Robinson KC led Helen Butcher of the Garden Court Crime Team on behalf of the defendant, instructed by Keshina Bouri of Russell Cooke.
Counsel, with invaluable assistance from their instructing solicitor, Keshina Bouri, secured an acquittal for a defendant accused of conspiracy to murder after an eight-week trial at the Central Criminal Court.
The defendant was alleged to be the hitman hired to shoot dead a rival drugs gang member during the delivery of 80 kilos of cocaine. The allegation arose out of the NCA EncroChat infiltration in 2020, and rested solely on the messages.
The defendant had a previous conviction for manslaughter which the prosecution were permitted to adduce. Having accepted attribution, the defence relied on the lack of intention. Having reviewed tens of thousands of messages, the defence team meticulously laid out an alternative interpretation of events and their meaning within the wider context of the co-existing drugs conspiracy.
