Latest News
£175,000 Cocaine Case Dropped
15th August 2011
Nikolich & Carter recently represented a Nigerian national charged with possession with intent to supply class A drugs namely cocaine following police raids at 2 addresses during which in excess of £170,000 worth of drugs were recovered. Gareth represented the defendant from the police station through the Magistrates Court and successfully persuaded the Courts to allow the defendant to have bail throughout despite the fact that 3 co-defendants charged with similar offences were refused bail. When the matter was committed to the Crown Court, Jaime Hamilton of 9 St John Street was instructed as Counsel and the matter was due for trial in August 2011; Nikolich & Carter had fully prepared the case and were ready to proceed on the date of trial having raised numerous issues with the CPS prior to the trial date as to whether or not they should be proceeding with the case against this defendant. Further to continuing representations to the Crown the matter was not ultimatley proceeded with against our client and he was free to leave the Court with his reputation in tact.
HMRC- notable acquittal
17th May 2011
Nikolich & Carter were recently involved in the notable acquittal of a defendant in "Operation Emmersed ". Steve and Nicola were specifically sought by the defendant Gwyn Jones, the sole director of Transmit Global who faced a re- trial in relation to an "MTIC" or "mobile phone carousel" fraud. The case involved the alleged evasion of VAT on mobile telephones and the amounts involved were huge. The proceedings lasted almost 10 years and the volume of material relied upon by HMRC (Customs) extended to 140,000 pages. Mr. Jones was originally tried and represented by a different firm of solicitors but upon conviction in his first trial he specifically asked Nikolich and Carter to represent him on an appeal against conviction which was successful and, therefore, lead to this re-trial at Stafford Crown Court. Ultimately, Mr. Jones was found Not Guilty by the Jury at Stafford Crown Court after they had been in retirement for just three and a half hours. Out of 14 accused in this series of trials, Gwyn Jones was only the second defendant to be acquitted.
H.M.R.C Fraud
12th May 2011
Nikolich & Carter currently represent a defendant in a VHCC V.A.T fraud being prosecuted by HMRC involving 12 defendants, 40 businesses and loss to the Revenue in excess of 1.25 million. The trial is due to take place next year.
T.I.C.Concurrent Sentence
10th May 2011
The firm recently represented a 20 year old defendant who was serving a custodial sentence for drugs offences and during his time in custody he had availed himself of Operation Clean Slate without any legal advice which resulted in him being charged with 4 burglaries and having a further 10 taken into consideration. The burglaries were a mixture of dwelling and commercial but all involved high value electrical items and various other items which meant that a significant consecutive sentence was a very real possibility; this would have had a major impact on the young client who was keen to transfer to open conditions and had recently been accepted at such an establishment pending the outcome of these matters. Due to the efforts of the team at Nikolich & Carter and instructed Counsel we were able to obtain very positive reports in respect of the defendant which when presented to the sentencing Judge at Manchester Crown Court persuaded him to impose a concurrent sentence which meant that the young man will not spend any additional time in custody and is still eligible for his transfer to open conditions.
Partnership
1st March 2011
Gareth Martin was recently invited to become a partner with Nikolich & Carter and duly accepted. Gareth started with the firm as a trainee and since qualifying he has continued to develop his skills in criminal law with a particular passion for police station and Magistrates′ Court work whilst also maintaining a keen interest in the areas of fraud and White Collar crime. Gareth will continue in his role as head of the police station and Magistrates′ Court department.