Disclosure Failings: Another Case Bites the Dust
When the (as he was then) Attorney General Geoffrey Cox MP published the Government’s Review of the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Disclosure in the Criminal Justice System in 2018, he made the bold statement— that the failings were to end, and a zero-tolerance policy was to be implemented.
Those within the industry did not expect fireworks.
The corrosive cuts to the Criminal Justice System have left investigators—already pushed to the breaking point—in charge of disclosure and lawyers too stretched to review the material properly.
All practitioners have horror stories, but it’s thanks to the solicitors and barristers who have prevailed that there is still space to offer equality of arms to every client.
Last week, our client’s case collapsed at Southwark Crown Court, and the prosecution offered no evidence.
The Prosecution investigation alleged that a number of Directors and staff members of a film production company cheated the public revenue out of over £13 million in VAT.
The subsequent investigation allegedly uncovered a vast network of fictitious companies raising fake invoices that allowed money to be recycled through various bank accounts. The fraud was said to be international.
Our client was first arrested in 2015. The trial of the 10 defendants commenced in February 2025.
There were tens of thousands of pages of served evidence and millions of pages of unused evidence. Each defendant had a King’s Counsel and Junior Barrister.
Matilda Taylor led the charge from Carson Kaye and was superbly assisted and represented by Jonathan Page and M. Ayaz Qazi KC from Libertas Chambers.
Once again, when pushed, the prosecution was unable to complete their duties of disclosure. The failings were endemic and comprehensive: The prosecution had mishandled documentary and digital material, failed to comply with internal procedures, and blurred the lines between civil and criminal investigations.
This means that for 10 years, our client has faced a massive roadblock when, as it turns out, a proper examination of the evidence may have prevented a prosecution.
The cost to the public purse of this investigation will run into the tens of millions. Extrapolate that over the past 10 years, nationwide, and the apparent savings in cuts to the CJS pale in comparison.
