Hojol Uddin secured the acquittal of an individual alleged to have been involved in a large scale drugs conspiracy. Following a six week trial at Bolton Crown Court the jury returned unanimous not guilty verdicts in respect of the following counts faced by the defendant:

• Conspiracy to supply a controlled drug of class A contrary to section 1(1) of the Criminal Law Act
• Encouraging or assisting an offence contrary to section 46 of the Serious Crime Act 2007.

Our client had also been charged with conspiring to supply class B drugs, however the prosecution offered no evidence in respect of this charge shortly before the trial was due to commence.

The defendant was alleged to have played the leading role in a large scale conspiracy to supply cocaine. The prosecution case relied heavily upon covert surveillance evidence, obtained over a period of fifteen months, and telephone calls and messages between the alleged co-conspirators.

In the alternative, the defendant was charged with encouraging or assisting others in the supply of drugs, unlawful wounding with intent, and/or fraud through the supply of encrypted devices. In order for a jury to properly convict the defendant of this charge, they had to be satisfied that the defendant supplied the encrypted devices, knowing that those to whom he supplied them, would commit the offences specified. Whilst the defendant accepted that he had supplied the devices, he denied that he did so in the furtherance of any criminal agreement or to assist others in the commissioning of various criminal offences.

In order to undermine the prosecution’s case, those instructed gathered a substantial amount of evidence to support the defendant’s instructions. By engaging a digital expert to download various relevant phones and laptops, the defence were able to place messages that the prosecution had sought to rely upon in the correct context. Furthermore, a significant amount of helpful material was obtained through the making of disclosure requests to both the prosecution and external parties, such as the probation and prison services.

Following a thorough analysis of the prosecution evidence and the careful presentation of the defendant’s case, JMW Solicitors LLP were able to secure unanimous not guilty verdicts in respect of all of the counts faced by the client.