Health and safety

Support through difficult times

If there’s an accident or incident at your workplace it can be incredibly traumatic. Call us immediately and we’ll be there for you with instant, comprehensive support and decisive advice. We’ll help you handle matters sensitively and efficiently, ensuring you follow the right course of action, avoid costly mistakes and protect your business continuity.

Clear advice to minimise risk

Responding to health and safety incidents, however serious, is often time-consuming and stressful. We have the in-depth knowledge, experience and resources to guide you through the process. We’ll explain the next steps clearly at each point, and can support you through investigations, court proceedings, inquiries and inquests.

Reassuring reviews and guidance

Health and safety compliance is an ongoing, evolving process for most businesses and we understand the challenges this involves. We can review and advise on your compliance measures, systems and policies to prevent incidents and injuries. And can provide everything from initial advice to ongoing reviews and due diligence checks.

Flooding and drainage

Assessments to mitigate risk

Flooding is on the rise and the effects can be expensive, disruptive and heartbreaking, so prevention is far preferable to dealing with the aftermath. We can help you deal with any risks of flooding to your land, business premises or home and identify how to minimise or mitigate them.

Identifying flood sources

Sources of flooding can include blocked drains, culverts and sewers, and activities on a neighbouring land, as well as surface water, rising groundwater and flooding from rivers and the sea. If you’ve been flooded, we can advise you on making claims against third parties or landowners who may have caused or exacerbated the flooding.

Practical support and advice

 With a detailed knowledge of flooding, drainage and water law, we’ll guide you through your options and the next steps, including insurance claims – whether the flooding is your fault or someone else’s. As well as supporting individuals and businesses, we also advise internal drainage boards, water level management authorities, local authorities and statutory bodies with flood and drainage responsibilities.

Local authority enforcement

Compliance and prosecution

We can help you with any issues that are regulated by the local authority, including planning compliance, trading standards, noise pollution, antisocial behaviour, fly-tipping and more. Whether you need to ensure compliance yourself or you’re affected by other people’s activities.

Timely advice limits risk

 We’ll advise you on your options and propose strategies to resolve the problems and reduce any impact to you or your business. We always respond promptly to minimise risk, particularly if there’s a critical incident or you receive unannounced visits or compliance notices.

All the support you need

Our strength is in quickly understanding the problem and identifying how to address it. Our team includes a former prosecutor who can advocate for you in all aspects of a dispute and represent you in any proceedings. However complex the issue, we have the resources and detailed knowledge to support you and will explain everything clearly, so you understand how to respond.

Shotgun and firearm licensing

Legal Advice for Shotgun & Firearm Licensing

Due to the complexity of the law governing firearms licensing, it is important to seek specialised legal advice as soon as an issue arises. Ian Anderson is an expert in shotgun and firearms licensing and has dealt with cases covering all aspects of the procedure from applications, renewals and temporary permits through to refusals, seizures, surrenders, revocations, appeals and applications to remove the prohibition on possession.

Refusals to grant a Firearm or Shotgun Certificate

The decision to grant a firearm or shotgun certificate lies in the hands of the Police. If an application is refused there is a right to appeal to the Crown Court. Common reasons for refusing a certificate include domestic turmoil, drug or alcohol misuse, failure to declare convictions, physical or mental health issues and security concerns. Refusals for any reason can be successfully appealed by presenting high quality evidence to the contrary.

Revocation of a Firearm or Shotgun Certificate

The police also hold the power to refuse or revoke shotgun and firearm certificates for the following reasons:

• If the person is of “unsound mind” usually evidenced by medical reports
• If the person is of “intemperate habits” in that they misuse alcohol or drugs, or engage in aggressive or antisocial behaviour
• If there is a “risk to public safety or the peace”. This covers everything from criminal activity to associations with persons of intemperate habits
• If the person has received a prison sentence of three months or more (suspended or immediate) then the person is prohibited from possessing a firearm, and revocation is automatic.

When a firearm or shotgun certificate is revoked the holder has 21 days in which to appeal to the Crown Court. Supportive evidence can be served later, but it is important preserve the right to appeal, and negotiate or challenge the decision with expert legal advice.

Prohibition on Firearms / Shotgun possession

Any person who is sentenced to imprisonment for 3 months or more (including a suspended sentence) will be prohibited from holding a certificate for a period of 5 years. For any sentence of 3 years or more, the prohibition is for life. Prohibitions can be challenged on application to the Crown Court. We have advised and assisted on successful applications to remove the prohibition, and will be happy to discuss your situation informally prior to an application being lodged.

• Shotgun and firearms licensing – FAQ’s
• Shotgun and firearms licensing – recent cases
• Appealing a revocation or refusal of license

Business crime

Expert impartial advice

We understand that the line between a difficult business transaction and an allegation of fraud can be very fine. We aim to re-draw the line on your side. Our expertise in commercial, contractual, insolvency, civil fraud and corporate crime is perfectly tailored to deal with investigations and prosecutions involving corporations, directors, or management.

A forensic approach

Contact us as soon as early as possible in order to take control of the narrative and protect yourself against reputational damage. We consider, assess and strategize from the outset. Our relationships with leading experts gives us an upper hand in complex criminal investigations by securing the leading experts in digital and accountancy forensics ahead of the prosecutor.

An enviable knowledge base

We have have defended in exceptionally complex fraud cases, we have also prosecuted them. We have a deep understanding of the process from the investigatory stage through to confiscation and beyond.

Proceeds of Crime Act

The Proceeds of Crime Act “POCA” cuts a swathe through the regulatory landscape of financial crime and business regulation. The main areas of the Act in which we can provide specialist are:

• Restraint orders

A restraint order “freezes” assets during an investigation or criminal proceedings. They are often applied for ex-parte (without notice). Legal advice on the scope and effect of a restraint order should be obtained immediately. Orders can be varied or discharged to allow businesses to trade or individuals to pay their expenses. Assets can be sold, or accounts “unfrozen” with permission from the Court.

• Seizure and forfeiture

Cash, bank accounts, jewellery and assets such as watches and works of art which are suspected to have derived from criminal conduct can be seized by investigators and detained by the Magistrates Court. An investigator can apply for assets to be forfeited and handed over to the investigator, it is not necessary to prove that a crime has been committed. Acting and reacting quickly to the seizure or detention of assets is essential. We have significant experience in liaising with investigators and obtaining the recovery of seized assets avoiding court proceedings. Where early resolution is not possible, the Magistrates Court will decide the issue of forfeiture. Presenting a clear and well-argued case setting out cogent evidence as to the legitimacy of the asset is essential.

• Civil recovery

Investigators can deploy significant civil powers in the High Court for the recovery of property obtained through “unlawful conduct”. Those powers include property freezing orders, civil recovery orders and powers which enable the National Crime Agency raise tax assessments. Civil recovery cases require specialist knowledge of criminal and civil procedure. Our expertise in commercial, contractual, insolvency, civil fraud and corporate crime is perfectly tailored to deal with civil recovery proceedings involving corporations, directors, or management.

• Offences – Money laundering

Criminal property is property of any type which has been obtained through unlawful conduct or represents the proceeds of unlawful conduct. Offences of concealing, disguising, converting, transferring, or removing criminal property are covered by section 327 of the Act. Under section 328 an offence is committed if a person becomes concerned in an arrangement which they know or suspect involves acquiring, retaining or using criminal property and section 329 makes it an offence to acquire, use, or possess criminal property. Defending money laundering allegations requires a great deal of skill and an intimate knowledge of the standard of proof required to establish participation, knowledge, or suspicion. The Act also defines various offences which can be committed by an organisation or regulated person in failing to disclose knowledge or suspicion of money laundering to a regulator or tipping off a person or individual about money laundering where it would be likely to prejudice an investigation. Firms and individuals in the regulated sector should seek advice to avoid committing offences around failing to disclose or tipping off.

• Confiscation orders

Confiscation orders are made after conviction. They can apply to businesses and individuals alike. The aim of a confiscation order is to deprive the guilty party of their criminal benefit. Confiscation is a technical and complex subject. Issues such as criminal lifestyle, statutory assumptions, hidden assets and tainted gifts can be the subject of intense argument and deliberation. Very often there is a middle-ground and negotiation plays an important role in confiscation cases.

• Enforcement

Enforcement proceedings follow where a confiscation order remains unpaid. When a confiscation order is made, the Crown Court will set a default sentence which is to be served if the Order is not paid in full. Interest will also start to run. The Magistrates Court has the power to enforce the default sentence, or appoint a receiver to force the sale of assets. The Magistrates Court cannot vary the Order, or allow more time to pay, but they can adjourn proceedings to allow the defendant to pay toward the order or make an application to vary the amount. Variation of confiscation orders in accordance with s.22 and 23 of the Act is dealt with by way of an application to the Crown Court. The Crown Court can vary the amount that has to be paid (the available amount) up or down, on an application by the defendant or prosecution. The Crown Court can also extend the time to pay an order up the statutory maximum of six months.

• Unexplained wealth and interim freezing orders

UWO and account monitoring orders are relatively new powers which allow the High Court, on application by an enforcement authority (NCA, HMRC, FCA, SFO) to make an Order that the person set out their interest in certain property and explain how they obtained it and how it is held. If the information is not provided or is unsatisfactory the property will be assumed to be recoverable property and may be frozen by way of an interim freezing order. Ultimately assets can be recovered or orders made to pay over very significant sums to regulators. UWOs can be challenged and have been challenged successfully in the High Court. Negotiated settlements can be achieved.

Government coronavirus loans – fraud investigations

Have you been invited to attend an interview about loans which your business received as part of the “Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme” or are you worried that you may be under investigation?

Many businesses were granted financial aid during the pandemic.

Applications for funding were, by necessity and design, fast-tracked and subject to minimal scrutiny.

The Government offered an “amnesty” where a tax assessment would be levied for the return of the loan.  This amnesty period for honest (or not) mistakes has long since finished and specialist investigators have been appointed by the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Insolvency Service to review suspect applications. 

We are now seeing prosecutions of some directors involved in these loans.

If your business is suspected of having fraudulently obtained a loan via BBLS, CBILS, CLBILS or the Future Fund it is likely that the directors who made the application will be invited to an interview under caution (PACE).

We can help. 

We can represent you at a PACE interview and we will be able to:

• Get disclosure of the case against you, so we can advise you on the allegation and evidence. That is not always the case if a director attends without a solicitor.
• Probe the investigator regarding the nature, extent and quality of the evidence gathered.
• Advise you thoroughly regarding the strength of the evidence, interview tactics, and the law relating to fraud by false representation.
• Discuss with you the option of making a comprehensive written statement to be read at the start of the interview and avoid self-incrimination.
• Make sure the interview is conducted fairly and any oppressive or unsuitable questions are swiftly retracted.

Following the interview, there is often a period of around three months before a charging decision is made.  We can provide ongoing pre-charge advice to strengthen your defence.

This sort of investigation should be taken very seriously.

Please contact Ian Anderson or Craig Burman if you would like any advice or a confidential discussion.

Read our Furlough fraud – criminal investigation update here.

Animal welfare

Protective legislation for animals has evolved over time, from a concept of preventing unnecessary suffering, to a more substantial range of laws and regulations in place to protect all animals.

The Animal Welfare Act 2006 makes it an offence to cause unnecessary suffering to any animal, whether domestic or wild, and places a duty of care on owners and keepers to provide for the welfare needs of their animals.

This includes providing access to food and water, preventing disease, providing appropriate accommodation, and allowing the animal the ability to express normal behaviour.

The Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing Regulations (WATOK) 2015 states that any person or business involved in the slaughter of animals must minimise suffering during the slaughtering process, with a comprehensive framework around training, qualifications, and record keeping.

How we can assist

If you are facing an investigation or prosecution for an animal welfare offence, it is important to seek legal advice as soon as possible.

A solicitor with experience in animal welfare law can assist you in understanding the allegations, putting forward defence arguments, negotiating with prosecuting authorities, and representing you in court.

• Read more and find out how we can help you

Driving offences

Have you received a Notice of Intended Prosecution and it is causing you stress?

We can explain the impact and options available to you around driving offences, giving you some reassurance on the options available to you.

Timing is crucial

Get in touch quickly when you receive the letter of intended prosecution. Loophole defences are rare but the Police can usually amend errors providing they are not time-barred from doing so.

Good and bad arguments

Aside from technical defences, a well-presented argument can make a real difference to the outcome. We can work with you for a persuasive, evidence-based and clearly presented argument.

How we can assist

A solicitor with experience in driving offense law can assist you in understanding the allegations, putting forward defence arguments, negotiating with prosecuting authorities, and representing you in court.

• Read more on navigating the road of driving offences