Client accused of being drug gang leader - Not Guilty.

Case study summary

Our client was accused of being the head of a conspiracy to supply Class A drugs in the Harrogate area in North Yorkshire. He faced trial with 8 co-defendants at Leeds Crown Court. He was acquitted of all charges after a trial.

Case study

Our client was accused of being the head of a conspiracy to supply Class A drugs in the Harrogate area in North Yorkshire. He faced trial with 8 co-defendants and faced, if convicted, a prison sentence which would have been in double figures. He was acquitted of all charges after trial.

The prosecution relied on multiple different sources of evidence. Thousands of pages of telephone evidence was served by the prosecution and had been used to create various charts which set out his contact with his co-defendants. Hours of surveillance evidence was used to suggest that his movements were consistent with that of running a supply of drugs operation. Traces of drugs had also been identified at our client's home address. The final piece of evidence relied up by West Yorkshire police was that of an undercover officer who claimed to have overheard our client in a fast-food restaurant boasting of his exploits.

At first glance, given the multiple strands of evidence, it appeared our client faced a strong prosecution case. Indeed, the defence teams of various co-defendants made clear their view that our client ought to plead guilty.

Our client, however, was clear that he was not guilty of the allegations and so our meticulous preparation began. We carefully worked through the telephone evidence with our client and we were able to show in trial that increased activity related to weekends in which he was working as a DJ and attempting to sell tickets to acquaintances. We were able to collect and present numerous advertisements which had been published on Facebook demonstrating his DJ gigs. Our client was also able to provide credible explanations as to what the surveillance footage demonstrated.

The prosecution were doggedly pursued for proper disclosure of the undercover officer’s notes of her surveillance. This revealed that the undercover officer had added details to her statement, written weeks after her surveillance, which had not featured in her notes at the time of her observations. She had also deleted messages sent to her handling officers. This all combined to significantly undermine her credibility in front of the jury.

The end result, much to the surprise of a number of our co-defendants, some of whom had entered guilty pleas, was a not guilty verdict for our client.