Kate Hare, led by Dharmendra Toor of The 36 Group, represented AE, who was charged with possession with intent to supply a controlled drug of class A, possession with intent to supply a controlled drug of class B and possession of criminal property.

AE was unanimously acquitted of all charges after an 8 week trial at Harrow Crown Court after successfully raising a defence under section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

The case involved careful navigation of the admissibility of decisions made during the National Referral Mechanism process and expert psychological evidence, following the decision of the Court of Appeal in Brecani [2021] EWCA Crim 731; and analysis of over 80,000 pages of data downloaded from mobile telephones, served during the first week of the trial.

Following AE’s acquittal Kate and Dharmendra successfully made representations to the Crown Prosecution Service that there was no longer a realistic prospect of conviction nor was it in the public interest to proceed with the prosecution of AE in respect of similar offences she awaited trial for at Snaresbrook Crown Court, resulting in the prosecution offering no evidence and formal not guilty verdicts being recorded.

Kate was instructed by Manoj Rupasinghe, Ieva Giedraityte and Amelia McKey of Lloyds PR Solicitors.