Alexandra Healy QC

Alexandra Healy KC

‘She’s an exceptionally fair prosecutor and devastating with it.’

Chambers and Partners (2024)

YEAR OF CALL 1992. APPOINTED KC 2011

Education

MA Cantab (Trinity Hall)

Appointments

Recorder of the Crown Court (2010)
KC list for SFO prosecution Panel
Co-Chair Bar Council Remuneration Committee (2012 – 2018)
Secretary of the Criminal Bar Association (2007 – 2008)
Director of the Bar Mutual Indemnity Fund (2010 – 2019)

Memberships

Criminal Bar Association
Fraud Lawyers Association

Legal 500 - Leading Silk
Chambers top ranked

Overview of Practice

She both defends and prosecutes. She is ranked in Band 1 as a leading silk in Chambers and Partners 2019 in relation to crime and financial crime and also as a Band 1 Leading Silk in the Chambers and Partners High Net Worth 2019 Directory. She has acted on behalf of a senior Barclays banker in relation to the LIBOR investigation, in respect of whom the SFO recently decided to take no further action. She recently successfully prosecuted two police officers for misconduct in public office, in relation to their failure to investigate child abuse offences.

She successfully prosecuted a six-handed fraud involving football apprenticeship training on behalf of the SFO. She is also secured a successful result on behalf of the principal defendant in a 5 month, twelve-handed trial alleging conspiracy to defraud brought by Southampton City Council. She has advised private companies and prosecuting authorities in relation to Bribery Act offences. She also advises private organisations on issues relating to employee fraud.

She successfully defended the Sun’s Whitehall editor, Clodagh Hartley, against an allegation of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office. She has defended an SFO prosecution involving £160 million banking fraud, R v Alexander, and successfully defended a bank manager against an allegation to commit corruption, prosecuted as part of a major fraud that led to the collapse of Willmetts Solicitors, R v Entwistle and others. She has had further success defending allegations of insider dealing in R v Sanders and others (involving the spread-betting firm Blue Index) and successfully defended one of the defendants in Operation Inertia, a £100 million MTIC contra trading case.

She has prosecuted a number of murder trials and has considerable experience in dealing with sensitive sexual offence cases including involving vulnerable witnesses. She has experience cross-examining autistic witnesses and carrying out cross-examination through an intermediary.

Other successful prosecutions include a multi-jurisdictional boiler-room fraud, involving Regulation S shares and carbon credits, R v MacDonald and Downes, which featured in the TV documentary ‘Fraud Squad’; a fraud involving the Land Registry and Probate Division; the prosecution of a dentist accused of defrauding the NHS and a series of frauds on various charities.
Reviews

Alexandra Healy QC is listed as a Leading Individual for both Crime and Financial Crime (previously Fraud) in the Chambers & Partners Directory and in the Legal 500.

She was instructed to act as independent counsel in the ‘Cash for Honours’ investigation.

‘Alexandra has immense authority in court with the judge, combined with an easy charming manner which juries like. She is a first-class advocate with an amazing recall for detail.’
Legal 500 (2024)
‘Alexandra is technically excellent, dynamic and client friendly. She is excellent both as an advisory silk and as an advocate and is decisive, brave, intelligent and wise.’
Legal 500 (2024)
‘Incredibly hard-working. Always very well-informed about all aspects of her cases. Willing to take difficult points, but has excellent judgement about when to do so. Always has the ear of the judge.’
Legal 500 (2024)
‘She’s an exceptionally fair prosecutor and devastating with it.’
Chambers and Partners (2024)
‘A barrister who enjoys legal arguments in court, she is rightly seen as a formidable opponent.’
Chambers and Partners (2024)
‘Because she’s so prepared, she is very calm but can also be robust when she needs to be. When she’s cross-examining, she efficiently dismantles the other side’s case.’
Chambers and Partners (2024)
‘She is very good on legal arguments and very well rounded.’
Chambers and Partners (2024)
‘Clients always have huge confidence in her.’
Chambers and Partners (2024)
‘She is a formidible advocate in court.’
Chambers and Partners (2024)
‘She asks the right questions and the clients love her.’
Chambers and Partners (2024)
‘Clients always have huge confidence in her. She is very good on legal arguments and very well rounded.’
Chambers and Partners (2024)
‘She is excellent: strategic, thoughtful, engaging and an excellent and considered advocate.’
Chambers and Partners (2024)
‘Alexandra is an outstanding silk for all types of criminal work, particularly matters of real complexity. She is at the top of her game.’
Chambers and Partners (2024)
‘Alexandra is strategically brilliant. She can navigate the complexity of a factual matrix together with the corporate resolution.’
Chambers and Partners (2024)
‘She is very hard-working, has a controlled jury manner and is a real pleasure to work with.’
Chambers and Partners (2024)

Practise Areas/Notable Cases

R v French and others – A murder and perverting the course of justice prosecution.

R v Sithole – Arson murder of 6 year old girl.

R v Hartley – Conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office.

R v Ghauri and others – Immigration fraud.

R v H – Child sex abuse involving 6 child complainants, one of whom autistic.

R v Bedi – Attempted murder/s.18 – successfully appealed imposition of IPP.

R v Chenery Wickens – Murder of BBC make-up artist.

R v Mukim and others – Conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

R v Jaggs – Murder of the daughter of Harrow House Master.

R v Dennis and others – Misconduct in a public office – involving allegations of police corruption.

R v Edwards – Murder

R v Fox and others – Heathrow gold bullion robbery.

R v Thompson – ‘Black Widow’ murder.

R v Ben-Rejab and Baccar [2011] EWCA Crim 1136.

Milton v CPS [2007] EWHC 532.

DPP v Milton [2006] EWHC 242.

Turner v DPP [1996] RTR 274.

Alexandra has developed a particular expertise in the area of Fraud and Financial Regulation. She is sought out both to defend and prosecute cases of complexity. She is currently instructed on behalf of the SFO to prosecute a six-handed fraud involving football apprenticeship training.  She is also instructed to defend the principal defendant in a twelve-handed conspiracy to defraud case brought by Southampton City Council. She is instructed on behalf of a company facing prosecution for a s.7 Bribery Act offence.

She has considerable experience of cases involving allegations of Insider Dealing, having defended in R v Butt and others, the first prosecution of spread betting as Insider Dealing. She successfully defended allegations of insider dealing in R v Sanders and others (involving the spread-betting firm Blue Index). She has also advised the FCA in relation to potential Insider Dealing prosecutions.

She has also extensive experience of dealing with revenue fraud cases, including MTIC fraud, and successfully defended one of the defendants in Operation Inertia, a £100 million MTIC contra trading case.

One area of particular expertise that she has developed relates to allegations of corruption and bribery. She successfully defended a bank manager against an allegation to commit corruption, prosecuted as part of a major fraud that led to the collapse of Willmetts Solicitors, R v Entwistle and others.  She successfully defended Clodagh Hartley (the Sun Whitehall Editor) against charges of conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office.  She has recently been retained to defend a company against allegations of failing to prevent bribery.

She advises organisations on dealing with employee fraud, both in relation to its investigation and as to the consequences that flow from it.

R v Alexander and others – £140m bank fraud.

R v Khan and others – Bank fraud.

R v Hartley – Sun Whitehall Editor – Conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office.

R v Ghauri and others – Immigration fraud.

R v MacDonald and Downes – Regulation S shares and carbon credit boiler room fraud.

R v Sanders and others – Insider dealing.

R v Ravjani and others – MTIC Contra fraud.

R v Shepherd and others – Beijing Olympics ticketing fraud.

R v Fallon and Carr – Land Registry and probate fraud.

R v Williams and others – ‘Ghost workers’ fraud.

R v Carlton and others – VAT fraud/money laundering.

R v Butt and others – Insider dealing.

R v Madeley and others – Inland Revenue fraud.

R v Latif – Bank fraud.

R v Palmer and others – Timeshare fraud.

Alexandra has extensive experience dealing with all aspects of restraint and confiscation proceedings as a result of her considerable work in financial crime.

Alexandra has considerable experience dealing with trading standards prosecutions, health and safety investigations including inquests, prosecutions brought for trademark infringement, licensing and other issues dealt with by local authorities.

She is currently instructed to defend in a substantial 12-handed prosecution brought by Southampton City Council in relation to the operation of an emergency plumbing business involving a vast trading standards investigation.

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