Brackenbury’s client writes for Solicitors Journal on the Serious Fraud Office’s recent case against two former Serco executives, which dramatically collapsed after it emerged the agency had made mistakes when disclosing documents that jeopardised the trial.
The Serious Fraud Office’s recent case against two former Serco executives dramatically collapsed after it emerged the agency had made mistakes when disclosing documents that jeopardised the trial. The Judge in the High Court refused the agency’s application to adjourn the case and directed the jury to return not guilty verdicts against Serco executives Nicholas Woods and Simon Marshall, ending the SFO’s seven-year investigation into prisoner tagging contracts.
The Judges’ comments will have a significant impact on the disclosure of evidence at trial. In this article published in the Solicitors Journal in May, the piece considers how the SFO’s process of disclosure of evidence undermined the trial, the Judge’s criticism of the SFO’s original prosecution of the two defendants, the wider implications for justice and in light of recent failed director prosecutions, the SFO’s ability to successfully litigate high profile individual and corporate cases.
You can read the full version of the article. You can read the full version on their website.