Gregory Fishwick

• Operation Cullinan 2021

  Multi-Company Boiler Room Fraud

  Mark Heywood KC leading Gregory Fishwick defended in this multi-company boiler room fraud that sold diamonds as investments. The Crown’s case was that a team of brokers including Lewis Bloor from The Only Way is Essex used false identities and pressure sales techniques to con elderly and vulnerable people from hundreds of thousands.The evidence against them included a purported confession that was excluded upon application by the Defence.  The Crown also sought to include companies either side of the Indictment period as evidence of bad character but this again was successfully resisted. The Defence managed to show that the Crown’s disclosure was fundamentally flawed.  Having read the written submissions the Crown initially dispensed with their own expert who had valued the stones and nearly worthless.  Having then considered the supplemental written submissions on disclosure the Crown had to concede that they could not continue to prosecute any and all of the Defendants. Instructed by Bark & Co.

  BBC News Article.

• R v. IT & anr [Woolwich] 2020

  Kidnap

  Gregory Fishwick acted for this Defendant who along with another had been charged with kidnapping a young investment guru, who had brokered multi-million pound deals with a number of people. The investors had seen no returns for their monies and had lost all their capital.  The Defendant had taken on a near half million debt to collect and used social media and a honey trap to corner the complainant.  The Crown applied under the bad character provisions of the Criminal Justice Act to play the jury an episode of TV journalist Donal McIntyre’s criminal underworld programme that focused on this Defendant.  This was resisted and rejected by the Judge. 

  Through persistent applications for disclosure of phone records, CCTV and most importantly bank statements it could be shown that the complainant was a serial fraudster who had lied throughout his account to the police and, most importantly, to the jury. Both Defendants were acquitted after a two-week trial within less than an hour. Instructed by Bark & Co Solicitors.

• R v. SK & anr [Snaresbrook] 2020

  Facilitating sexual activity with a child

  Gregory Fishwick acted in this case that involved an allegation of facilitating sexual activity with a child by two Defendants. SK was a political asylum seeker who allowed his co-defendant to stay in his home office providing accommodation with two fourteen-year-old girls.  It was alleged that SK engaged in sexual activity with both children and facilitated similar activity with his co-defendant.  He was unanimously acquitted by the jury but his co-defendant was acquitted. Instructed by Emery Halil Brown.

• R v. JO’C [Kingston] 2019

  £1m Fraud

  Gregory Fishwick acted for this Defendant who was one of three people accused of defrauding a vulnerable elderly male of his life savings and his home to a total value of over £1Million.  His name had appeared on the original conveyance file as the purchaser at a significant undervalue (£20,000) and he was also identified as being involved in the later transfer of title.  Despite both other Defendants pleading guilty during the course of the trial, Gregory secured a unanimous acquittal for his client. Instructed by Paul Martin Solicitors.

• Rv. RB [Snaresbrook] 2019

  Gangland Kidnapping

  Gregory Fishwick acted in this case involving an allegation of gangland kidnap by a serious crime group from Eastern Europe.  The complainant was said to have been taken from his car and bundled into another by a group of men.  After a painstaking trawl of unused CCTV, it was shown that this simply could not have happened.  Further, after a number of section 8 applications, disclosure was obtained that cast doubt on the complainant’s veracity due to ongoing mental health problems.  The Judge stopped the case at the conclusion of the Crown’s evidence.

• Operation Pescara [Blackfriars] 2019

  Carbon Credits & Diamond Fraud

  Gregory Fishwick was instructed to defend a senior broker in a financial institution who was accused with others of conspiracy to defraud. The allegation was that pressured sales techniques were used to convince generally elderly people to invest in firstly carbon credits and later diamonds.  In fact, the investments were either worthless or significantly of a lesser value than indicated.   Gregory lead a solicitor from the firm who instructed him and the Defendant was acquitted by the jury.

• R v. Doherty & anr [Luton] 2017

  Preventing lawful Burial

  Ben Temple instructed by EHB Solicitors, acted for this 72 year old man at his trial who was charged with preventing the lawful burial of his sister in law and perverting the course of justice following the discovery of her body in a Luton Garden 12 years after her disappearance. The jury at his first trial was hung, Gregory Fishwick was Counsel at his Re-trial.

  Daily Mail report.

• R v. BM [Maidstone] 2017

  Step-father accused of sexual assault upon his stepdaughter

  Gregory Fishwick successfully represented this defendant whom was cleared of all charges of allegedly sexually assaulting his step-daughter over a 6 year period. The allegations were borne of revenge by his former wife following an acrimonious divorce. Instructed by Edward Hayes LLP.

Notable Cases

• Operation Seale (Damilola Taylor Murder- trial 1) 2006

  Damilola Taylor Murder Trial

• Operation Deliver [C.C.C.] 2009

  £53m Tonbridge Securitas Heist

• Operation Devout [Birmingham] 2009

  £82m Missing Trader Fraud

• Operation Tangelo 2 2010

  Alchohol Diversion Fraud

  Alcohol diversion fraud. Highly complex, involving a large network of traders. Part 2 involved the setting up of a ‘fraudsters’ bank’.

• Operation Steamroller [Southwark] 2014

  £70m Spanish "Boiler" Room operation