Charles Langley KC, David Patience & Lucy Sweetland’s clients acquitted of fraud in 3-month trial

Charles Langley KC, David Patience and Lucy Sweetland, all of whom were instructed by Simon May of Edwards Duthie Shamash, represented two defendants acquitted by the jury of involvement in a £25m timeshare fraud at Southwark Crown Court.

Lucy Sweetland (led by Nick James) represented a woman of good character charged with conspiracy to defraud over a four year period. She was alleged to have been part of the management of a fraudulent timeshare sales and relinquishment company and to have made false claims about the company and the investment opportunities it offered to customers.  The defence case, positively advanced through witness and documentary evidence, was that she only ever acted in compliance with company procedures and with the honest belief that the investment opportunities were genuine. Following a three-month trial at Southwark Crown Court, Lucy’s client was acquitted by the jury in February of this year. Reporting restrictions have recently been lifted.

Charles Langley KC, leading David Patience, represented the husband of Lucy’s client, who was a sales rep employed at the same company. It was alleged that he had made false representations to numerous clients during sales meetings and as a result, Charles and David were required to cross-examine a large number of complainants during the course of the trial. Their client did not give evidence and he was subsequently unanimously acquitted of all counts he faced at the conclusion of the trial. Charles and David also successfully argued, at the start of the trial, that one of the counts that their client faced was bad for duplicity and as a result, the prosecution significantly reduced its scope.

In all, 18 people were charged with involvement in the fraud in proceedings which lasted more than three years and involved four separate trials.  Charles, David and Lucy represented two of only three defendants who were acquitted across all four trials.

You can read some of the press coverage of the case at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c33pelk6pmlo.