Brian O’Neill KC provides advice and advocacy in private prosecutions (in which he has a particular expertise), business crime, serious crime and sports law.
His expert skills can be applied to any complex situation whether defending or prosecuting across various jurisdictions. He advises corporate clients in this jurisdiction and abroad and gives advice to foreign Governments. He has appeared in numerous high-profile cases and has represented a number of professional footballers.
Brian is consistently recommended in the principal industry guides as a leader at the Criminal Bar.
Brian is particularly sought after in ‘paper heavy’ and substantial multi handed cases where his analytical skills, attention to detail and strong advocacy are highly valued. He is regularly instructed by both leading defence solicitors and prosecution agencies in this sector including the CPS HQ’s Specialist Fraud Division and is on the Serious Fraud Office KC Panel.
He has advised UK and overseas companies in respect of their and their directors’ liabilities in on-going and potential proceedings in this and other jurisdictions. He has advised the Government of the Cayman Islands in relation to allegations of bribery and corruption in the course of a major inter-governmental investigation.
Mills, Scourfield & Others
Appearance: Prosecution
Following a 4 to 5 months’ trial at Southwark Crown Court David and Alison Mills, Michael Bancroft, Mark Dobson and Tony Cartwright were convicted of conspiracy to corrupt, fraudulent trading and conspiracy to launder criminal property which resulted in a loss to HBoS of £245 million and the substantial enrichment of Mills and his associates. Lynden Scourfield, the HBoS banker, had pleaded ‘guilty’ shortly before the trial commenced.
A number of enquiries into the HBoS scandal are ongoing.
The case was widely covered in the national press, click the links to read more: BBC | The Guardian | The Telegraph | The Sun
Pagliara, Price & Wright
Appearance: Prosecution
The defendants, two football agents and the former assistant manager of Barnsley FC were convicted of offences under the Bribery Act following a two months’ long trial at Southwark Crown Court.
The case stemmed from an extensive undercover investigation into alleged corruption in football by The Daily Telegraph, the most high-profile casualty of which was Sam Allardyce, the then England manager, who resigned his position.
The case was widely covered in the national press, click the links to read more here and here.
Following the trial Brian was instructed by The Football Association in respect of disciplinary proceedings against Price and Wright.
Frisby & Shakespeare
Appearance: Prosecution
The defendants were convicted of a number of counts of fraudulent trading following a 3 to 4 months’ trial. The allegations related to their operation of a number of companies which attracted £millions from private investors and equally substantial investments from various banks in a ‘land banking’ ‘Ponzi’ fraud.
Brian is regularly instructed by both leading defence solicitors and prosecution agencies in the field of business crime and fraud including the CPS HQ’s Specialist Fraud Division and is on the Serious Fraud Office KC Panel.
This in turn has led to instructions both to prosecute and defend in substantial trading standards cases as a result of his expertise in criminal law and his very considerable experience in serious and complex criminal cases.
Brian is instructed in criminal cases of the utmost gravity and seriousness by leading defence solicitors. His vast experience has earned him the respect of those who instruct him, his peers and the judiciary.
He is regularly instructed in high profile murder cases and allegations involving serious sexual offences where his judicial experience as a former Recorder at the Central Criminal Court gives him a distinct advantage.
He has represented a number of Premiership footballers accused of serious violence, sexual assault and public order offences: out of respect for their privacy their names have been anonymised and media links removed.
MDY
M was charged with a gang related murder. The case against him hinged upon facial analysis evidence with supporting cell-site evidence. Upon Brian’s advice the prosecution and defence experts met in order to produce joint reports which resulted in the prosecution’s case that M was one of the suspects being greatly diminished. Following written representations to the CPS submitting that there was no longer a realistic prospect of conviction, the prosecution offered no evidence against M.
ELH
H was accused of two gang related murders. Following the service of the prosecution case Brian advised that an application to dismiss should be made. Upon receipt of the defence’s written submissions the prosecution discontinued the case against H in respect of all of the allegations which he faced.
AJ & Others
AJ and seven others stood trial on four counts of murder. They were accused of firebombing the home of a man whom they suspected of having murdered a friend of theirs earlier that day, however, the wrong house was set alight killing a mother and her three teenage children. AJ was acquitted of murder and convicted of manslaughter.
VUT
Defence of a professional footballer accused with three other players of sexually assaulting a young woman in a hotel room. Brian’s client was acquitted of all charges. The solicitor for one of the co-defendants described Brian as “the stand out Silk in the case”.
YXW
Defence of a professional footballer accused of wounding a night club doorman with intent to do grievous bodily. Brian’s client was acquitted of all charges.
Brian O’Neill KC appeared before Westminster Magistrates’ Court on behalf of Northern Trains Limited [NTL] in respect of a series of prosecutions of alleged fare evaders who were prosecuted in a manner which was procedurally incorrect and which proceedings were, therefore, a nullity.
Brian is currently advising NTL and other train operating companies in respect of their prosecutorial processes.
Brian’s expertise in criminal law and his very considerable experience prosecuting serious and complex criminal cases have led to a number of instructions in this area in which he both prosecutes and defends and also lectures.
MA v AD & NR
Appearance: Prosecution
A private prosecution brought by a Dubai based businessman against two UK nationals who were alleged to have defrauded him of approximately £1 million.
MT v SG
Appearance: Defence
SG, an Austrian businessman, was accused by MT (an Italian businessman with dual Swiss nationality) of a mezzanine finance fraud. The proceedings, which gave rise to a number of significant jurisdictional issues, were the subject of a successful application to the CPS to intervene and discontinue.
Euro Exim Bank Ltd v Wahab
Appearance: Prosecution
A private prosecution brought by a private bank against a former customer in respect of his attempts to defraud the bank of E50 million and blackmail senior officials in the bank.
G & T v L
Appearance: Defence
L was accused of numerous counts of ‘health and safety’ fraud relating to the provision of gas and electrical safety certificates in a private prosecution brought against him by G and T following a long running contractual dispute between their companies. Successful representations were made to the CPS to take over and discontinue a number of counts. At trial Brian’s client was acquitted of all of the remaining counts.
TSR & SRQ
Appearance: Defence
The defendants, two senior professionals in the financial services industry, were accused of fraud by the daughter of one of their clients following a long running family dispute. The matter was the subject of successful representations to the CPS to take over the case and discontinue the proceedings.
Thereafter the defendants successfully recovered all of their costs against the private prosecutor following a fully contested hearing.
QOP
Appearance: Prosecution
Advising a financial services company on the merits of a private prosecution in respect of allegations of fraud by a former senior employee and his wife following a series of civil suits.
Brian is a very experienced prosecutor who is regularly instructed to prosecute in cases of complexity, sensitivity and seriousness. Apart from his work for the Specialist Fraud Division (see Business Crime and Financial Services), Brian is regularly instructed by specialist units within the CPS, including the Organised Crime Division, CPS London’s Homicide Team and CPS London’s Special Casework Division.
His significant experience includes the complex multi-handed prosecutions of organised gangs of criminals and “career criminals”. Such cases require careful attention to case strategy, an ability to analyse and present a range of complex evidential material, and the sure handling of often highly sensitive unused material.
He has extensive experience of prosecuting murders at the Old Bailey including multi handed gang related cases.
Outside of this jurisdiction he has advised the DPP of The Isle of Man in respect of a high profile murder case on the island and the Government of the Cayman Islands in relation to allegations of bribery and corruption in the course of a major inter-governmental investigation.
Seven men were convicted of homicide, four of murder and three of manslaughter, following a lengthy trial at the Old Bailey. In February 2023 Kai McGinley was shot to death in a residential road in Erith, south-east London. It was a planned and targeted execution which was undoubtedly drugs related. Kai’s car was rammed off the road by a vehicle containing four of the defendants. The three occupants of the other car got out and opened fire from close range. At trial, five of the seven defendants denied presence or participation: the other two admitted presence but denied knowing what was going to happen. After more than 100 hours of jury deliberation, at the end of a trial which lasted 89 days, all were convicted.
The defendant was convicted of the targeted assassination of a rival in the drugs industry to whom he was in debt. Passing sentence, the trial judge described the case “one of the most challenging, single defendant, single homicide cases…ever undertaken.”
The defendants were convicted of murder, attempted murder and perverting the course of justice for their parts in a night of drive by shootings in east London where one man was murdered and another very seriously injured.
Following a six months’ trial two defendants were convicted of murder and two of manslaughter following the shooting of Christopher George in Edmonton in July 2020. The prosecution case rested upon a complex combination of CCTV, telephone contact and cell site evidence to prove the presence of all four defendants at the scene of the murder.
Following a five weeks’ trial, two defendants were convicted of the murder of drill artist Bis, real name Crosslon Davis, a member of the prominent music collective Harlem Spartans whose tracks have had millions of YouTube hits.
Following a trial of 57 days’ duration the defendants, of whom there were six, were all convicted of the murder of a member of a rival gang in east London. They and two others (who remain unidentified) took part in a ride-out into enemy territory where they spotted, chased and stabbed their victim to death.
The defendant was convicted of the murder of two young men more than 10 years previously. He and his brother were international career criminals who had come to London with their girlfriends to commit high end burglaries. Following a dispute with a local criminal they executed him and a friend of his before fleeing the country. The defendant’s brother was quickly caught and returned here to stand his trial but committed suicide in prison shortly beforehand. The defendant remained at large for a number of years before being located in Mexico from where he was extradited to stand trial.
Five defendants were convicted of murder, manslaughter and assisting an offender for their parts in the gang related assassination of a rival drugs dealer in a London street during the evening rush hour. The gunman who was aged just 15 at the time of the shooting was indicted alongside his father and grandmother who had given him a false alibi and spirited him out of London, as well as two others who had supplied the lethal weapon and driven him to and from the scene of the shooting.
Huckle, widely described in the media as ‘Britain’s worst ever paedophile’, was convicted of 71 counts of child abuse committed against 23 young children over a period of 8 – 9 years when he was living in Malaysia. The case gave rise to numerous issues including extra territorial jurisdiction, the use of ‘the dark web’ and the presentation to a jury of graphic images recorded by H of him raping his victims. Click here to read about the case in the national press. Huckle was subsequently murdered in prison.
Meanza, who had been the subject of a Mental Health Act order for many years, was convicted of the murder of a care worker at the ‘halfway house’ to which he had been recently released.
Three defendants, including two twin brothers, were convicted of the murder (2) and manslaughter (1) of a young man who tried to prevent them from robbing a group of other youths at an 18th birthday party.
Gibbon was convicted of the murder of his next door neighbour. Following a protracted dispute which had resulted in court proceedings being brought against him, Gibbon ambushed his neighbour on her way to work and stabbed her to death.
The defendants were accused of endangering the safety of a PIA aircraft by making threats to kill members of the crew and blow up the plane on its approach to Manchester airport. RAF fighter jets were scrambled and the plane was diverted to Stansted airport, the incident being treated as terror related.
The defendants, of whom there were 30, were members of organised criminal networks which carried out more than 30 robberies of ‘high end’ jewellers’ stores throughout the country and overseas stealing £millions worth of watches and other items. This was one of the largest prosecutions ever brought by the Flying Squad. Brian was subsequently named ‘Times’ Lawyer of the Week’ in recognition of his leadership of the prosecution team.
Brian has appeared in numerous high profile cases and has represented a number of Premiership footballers accused of serious violence, sexual assault and public order offences: out of respect for their privacy their names have been anonymised and media links removed.
The FA v Ivan Toney
Appearance: Prosecution
The defendant, a Premier League footballer was charged with more than 200 breaches of the prohibition on betting. The breaches took place over a period of four years and included a number of aggravated breaches including bets on football matches in which the defendant was playing. The defendant admitted all of the breaches and was banned from football for eight months.
The case was widely reported and commented upon in the national media: Sky News | BBC | The Guardian | The FA
Pagliara, Price & Wright
Appearance: Prosecution
The defendants, two football agents and the former assistant manager of Barnsley FC were convicted of offences under the Bribery Act in December 2019 following a two months’ long trial at Southwark Crown Court.
The case stemmed from an extensive undercover investigation into alleged corruption in football by The Daily Telegraph in 2016, the most high-profile casualty of which was Sam Allardyce, the then England manager, who resigned his position.
The case was widely covered in the national press, click the links to read more here.
Following the trial Brian was instructed by The Football Association in respect of disciplinary proceedings against Price and Wright.
VUT
Defence of a professional footballer accused with three other players of sexually assaulting a young woman in a hotel room. Brian’s client was acquitted of all charges. The solicitor for one of the co-defendants described Brian as “the stand out Silk in the case”.
YXW
Defence of a professional footballer accused of wounding a night club doorman with intent to do grievous bodily. Brian’s client was acquitted of all charges.
ZAB
Defence of a professional footballer accused of a public order offence following his sending off in a Premier League match.
CDE
Defence of a professional footballer accused of assault following an incident involving rival fans.
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