Jonathan Kinnear KC acts in £400m claim against CPS

On 11 February 2025 the Court of Appeal Civil Division (Davis LJ and Jeremy Baker LJ) handed down judgment refusing Richard Hughes permission to appeal the decision of Mr Justice Jay ([2024] EWHC 1765 (KB)) to grant the CPS summary judgment in respect of claims brought against it for malicious prosecution and misfeasance in public office, and damages in the region of £400 million.

Jonathan Kinnear KC acted for the CPS, leading a team of counsel (Alexander Cook KC, Amy Mannion and Gideon Barth) in a case involving tens of thousands of documents, that took over 6 years to bring to a conclusion.

Mr Hughes, along with others, had been charged in 2015 with conspiracy to cheat the Revenue and cheating the Revenue in connection with his alleged involvement in high value film and pharmaceutical investment schemes, which HMRC asserted did not represent genuine commercial investment opportunities because the investments were designed to fail and specifically obtain a tax advantage.  The charges were dismissed in May 2017 on the basis that the judge considered they did not disclose an offence known to law.  Mr Hughes brought claims alleging that the CPS lacked reasonable and probable cause for the prosecution and had acted maliciously and in bad faith.  In particular he alleged that there had been a failure to investigate the involvement of a major bank and serious errors in the disclosure process.  He asserted that the failed prosecution had caused damage to his businesses running to hundreds of millions of pounds.

The Court of Appeal confirmed the decisions of Jay J, that the Claimant had no real chance of showing a lack of reasonable and probable cause or establishing that the CPS had acted maliciously or in bad faith.

Jonathan Kinnear KC is a leading practitioner in the area of malicious prosecution and misfeasance, having acted for the CPS in a number of serious cases, including those arising from the Rochdale child exploitation prosecutions, the murder of Clinton Bailey and the failed prosecution of former solicitor, Phillip Ruddall.  He has also advised Post Office in respect of the approach to be taken to those wrongly convicted as a result of the Horizon scandal.  In addition he has advised individuals and corporations in respect of potential claims.