Nigel Edwards QC is to lead the legal team consisting of Haydee Dijkstal, Rehana Popal, Ayesha Smart and Annahita Moradi, in representing the family and interests of British Iranian, Anoosheh Ashoori, arbitrarily detained in Iran since August 2017.

Nichola Cafferkey has been instructed to represent a client at Leicester Crown Court charged with committing a £300,000.00 fraud which is expected to be heard at the start of October.

Ravinder Saimbhi was invited to speak as a panellist at a ’Sikhs in the Legal Profession' event on Zoom this week, offering insights, advice and guidance to over 100 students interested in a career in the law. It was a pleasure to take part and the feedback showed huge appreciation from all of the delegates who attended, describing the talks as informative, insightful and inspiring.’

Ravinder Saimbhi represented a young man in person at Isleworth Crown Court this week who faced sentence for a number of offences involving possession with intent to supply cannabis. She was able to mitigate effectively and make enquiries about a potential employment opportunity for her client which persuaded the Judge to impose a Suspended Sentence. She was also able to  successfully argue against the confiscation of his vehicle which the prosecution had sought as part of the sentence.

Robert Fitt secures community order for client charged with being part of a £70,000 conspiracy to defraud.  The case was reported by Court News UK

https://courtnewsuk.co.uk/bank-fraud-investigator-helped-himself/​

Mohammed Saqib successfully navigated his way through another fantastic sentence for his lay client. Appearing at Wood Green Crown Court, the defendant was charged with driving with no insurance, driving without a licence, driving whilst over the legal limit for alcohol, dangerous driving and possession of a class b drug. The defendant entered guilty pleas to all offences. 

In short the circumstances were that the defendant had crashed into a parked vehicle whilst driving through the streets of London, to aggravate matters the vehicle had a flat tyre and was being driven on the bare disc. The defendant was found to be intoxicated and in possession of a class b drug. Aggravation of the offence was further extended by the defendant not having a driving licence or indeed insurance. Through robust mitigation the defendant avoided custody, the following sentence was passed;  2 year driving disqualification, 18 month community order consisting of 15 RAR days and a thinking skills programme.

Annahita Moradi will deliver an online workshop later this month aimed at youths and young adults on police duties towards survivors of human trafficking and modern slavery. The training will cover identifying exploitative behaviours, survivors' rights, and the principal of non-punishment when encountered by police as enshrined in domestic and international law. A poster for the event will be published next week.

Please keep an eye on chambers website and social media accounts for some important announcements to be made on behalf of the crime team next week.

Have a good weekend all!