Daniel Chadwick is a specialist criminal defence barrister, with a practice exclusively defending those facing charges relating to high-value and complex fraud and business crime and serious organised crime across the country.
Engaging, accessible and fearless, Daniel is a natural and talented jury advocate. He is known for his incisive cross-examination and compelling speeches, but in addition Daniel’s dogged determination to pursue issues of disclosure and abuse of process during the pre-trial stage have produced remarkable results, often resulting in cases being dropped.
Daniel approaches cases strategically from the outset and, with a reputation for being both pro-active and meticulous in his case preparation, he is frequently sought out to represent professionals in cases of the utmost gravity. In recent years, he has routinely appeared in large and complex multi-handed cases, often for the first defendant.
Daniel has extensive experience defending company directors and business professionals facing the full range of financial misconduct, with an enviable record of success.
Commercially astute, tactical and with a talent for getting to the very core of even the most complex and voluminous of cases with ease, Daniel has represented clients charged with large-scale MTIC and boiler room frauds, mortgage fraud, money laundering and fraudulent trading as well as in associated confiscation proceedings. A number of his cases have had an international dimension.
R v DM Ltd & Ors
Represented a car dealership and its director and its general manager in a trading standards prosecution under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. The dealership was alleged to have sold vehicles to customers without informing them of outstanding manufacturer recalls. The defence case was that the government online recall checkers were inaccurate and unreliable. Following the service of two defence expert reports the prosecution offered no evidence against all defendants on all charges.
R v DS
HMRC investigation into the illicit importation and distribution of millions of cigarettes into the UK by an Iraqi-Kurdish organised crime group, culminating in a two-month trial at Birmingham Crown Court. The cigarettes were smuggled into the UK by lorry amongst partially legitimate loads destined for British businesses. Once in the country, the cigarettes were ‘slaughtered’ at warehouses in the Midlands before being distributed by suppliers to customers without paying UK duty. This evasion of duty made the business a highly lucrative one. Represented one of only two defendants to be acquitted.
R v JS
National llegal Money Lending Team prosecution in which the defendant and his wife (represented by Lewis MacDonald) were accused of operating a business providing hundreds of thousands of pounds of loans over several years. The defence case was that the loans were provided as part of a culture originating in the Philippines, did not constitute a business and were therefore exempt from regulation under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Both defendants were acquitted of all charges after a trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court.
R v CP & Ors
Leading Ella Ripper, represented a senior personal banker at NatWest in a £1.2M six week fraud trial at Southwark Crown Court.
R v PS
Carbon credit fraud (Operation Toll; Operation Liquid) Instructed on behalf of a company director alleged to have masterminded the laundering of the proceeds of more than 20 ‘boiler room’ frauds.
R v MM
Acted for the main defendant accused of defrauding the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea of a six-figure sum by falsely representing herself to be a resident of the Grenfell Tower during the fire.
R v DR
International money-laundering operation involving the transfer of millions of pounds through front companies purporting to import alcoholic drinks. Acquitted following successful submission of no case to answer.
R v MB
Cheating the Revenue. Acted for the first defendant in a multi-million pound case arising from the non-payment of capital gains tax.
R v GH
Multi-million-pound confiscation proceedings stayed as an abuse of process on the ground that the prosecution had failed to act within the spirit of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
Daniel’s reputation and experience in defending serious organised crime as both a led junior and junior alone has seen him instructed in cases nationwide by clients charged with a wide range of offences, namely homicide and serious violence, firearms, large scale drugs offences, conspiracies and serious sexual offences.
He excels in his analysis of evidential and tactical issues at the early stages of a case, and in the skilled and carefully constructed presentation of arguments to courts and prosecuting authorities. Daniel understands the benefits of adopting a proactive and collaborative approach to his cases and is a naturally versatile barrister; his experience and judgment in defending serious crime puts any client at ease.
R v CZ
Counsel for the first defendant in a case of supplying fraudulently obtained passports to serious criminals intent on fleeing the jurisdiction. The National Crime Agency have described the case as “one of the most significant NCA investigations of recent times” stating “this group’s activities have enabled some of the most serious organised criminality in the UK and around the world”. The case attracted substantial coverage from the national media.
R v IA
Instructed on behalf of a student nurse alleged to have committed a campaign of rape and sexual assault against psychiatric patients under his care. Daniel’s cross-examination (under s.28 YJCEA 1999) resulted in the Crown offering no further evidence in respect of one complainant; the trial of the remaining counts has been adjourned until November 2023.
R v EG
Murder. Represented a man accused of murdering and dismembering his mother. The prosecution abandoned reliance on a forensic psychiatrist as an expert witness after the defence exposed his non-compliance with expert evidence rules and ensuing disclosure issues. A special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity was returned. Led by Narita Bahra QC.
R v JR
Attempted murder. Secured an acquittal for a man who stabbed his girlfriend’s father eleven times whilst he lay sleeping in bed. Sole counsel.
R v RJ
Represented a man accused of seriously sexually assaulting his niece and nephew when they were children in the 1980s. The defence case was that the complainants had conspired to falsely accuse him as revenge for their involvement in publicising his daughter’s terminal illness in a local newspaper. Following a seven-day trial, the defendant was completely acquitted of all charges.
R v PO
Aggravated burglary, GBH with Intent (s.18) and Witness Intimidation. Represented a man alleged to have impersonated a police officer in order to mount a home invasion robbery in which the occupant was viciously and repeatedly struck with a hammer, causing broken bones to the face and legs; augmented by threats at court to kill. Defence case was ‘fit-up’. Jury acquitted on all charges following a two-week trial.
R v SH
s.18 GBH and Conspiracy to rob. Targeted robbery in which the complainant’s taxi was followed home from Central London and he was attacked in his kitchen with knives. Defence used the prosecution’s own CCTV and ANPR evidence – and evidence of the victim’s conduct – to successfully undermine the ‘targeted robbery’ theory and establish instead that the victim’s home had been attended by arrangement for the purpose of purchasing drugs from him. Complete acquittal following a three-week trial.
R v SM
Represented the lead defendant and alleged head of an organised crime group in relation to multiple kilogram shipments of Class A drugs from the North West of England to Scotland.
R v BD
Secured the acquittal of a former prison officer alleged to have conducted an inappropriate relationship with a prisoner. Detailed and extensive requests for third-party disclosure led to the production of intelligence reports and internal emails which formed the backbone of the defendant’s case that she was the victim of misconduct rather than the perpetrator of it.
R v PB
Sexual activity with a child under 13. Historic allegations made by the defendant’s sister and niece. Trial involved meticulous cross-examination of a 13 year old complainant.
Daniel acted for the defendant in a Trading Standards prosecution investigated by the National Illegal…
On 31st July 2024, two years after proceedings began, following the service of two defence…
Operation Clinical was a lengthy HMRC investigation into the illicit importation and distribution of millions…
