Call: 1962 Silk: 1981

Anthony Arlidge QC has been consistently ranked by Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession as a Leading Silk, both in general crime: “a speaker who instantly commands the attention of judge and jury” and in the field of fraud: “certainly one of the best” (2006). He “cares a great deal for his clients” and has “the ability to pull a case together and present it in a seamless and highly attractive manner.” (2008)

He is the co-author of two leading text books, Arlidge and Parry on Fraud and Arlidge and Eady on Contempt of Court.

Over the last ten years he has concentrated on

• high profile murder cases, such as the prosecution of Jeremy Bamber for multiple murders
• complex fraud: He  has defended successfully in a number of SFO cases, including  Blue Arrow, Marconi and Butte Mining.  He  represented Michael Allcock, a tax inspector charged with corruption . He also defended the widely publicised case brought against Terry Ramsden, for fraudulent trading and insolvency offences.
• Prosecuting and defending in proceedings before Lloyds of London, the Stock Exchange and FIMBRA.
• Defending medical cases: Before the GMC his cases include defending a doctor accused of the misuse of hypnotism and the improper surgical removal of kidneys for sale. In the Crown Court he has recently defended a prison doctor, charged with manslaughter over the allege improper prescription of methadone and in 2005 he secured the acquittal of Dr Martin, a GP charged with the murder of three of his patients.
• Representing clients before the Sports Disputes Resolution Panel. He defended George Graham before the Football Association Panel on charges of corruption.
• He has appeared many times in the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords, including the leading cases of R v Lawrence (recklessness) 1982 AC 510 and Prentice and Sulman (medical manslaughter).

Case of Note

R v Conaghan and ors 2005
Successful defence of a contract gangland murder. The victim had been linked to the £26million Brinks Mat gold bullion robbery in 1983.

Rv Martin (Dr) 2005
Successful defence of three charges of murder of patients by morphine overdoses. It was successfully argued that the prosecution had failed to prove the element of causation, or that, despite his experience as a family GP, the accused knew the effects of the drugs upon his seriously ill patients.

R v Regan and ors 2005
This widely reported murder trial is thought to be the longest in the history of the Central Criminal Court. Career criminal Regan and William Horncy were convicted of murdering five members of the Chohan family.

R v Howell and ors  2003. (2003) EWCA Crim 486
One of the biggest anti-corruption investigations in the UK. The Court of Appeal upheld the convictions of five Flying Squad members for stealing more than £200,000 of the money recovered after a security van robbery. The case involved informant evidence.

R v Early and ors  2002 (2002) EWCA Crim 1904
The London City Bond VAT fraud, in which it was alleged that £2billion of duty on the sale of alcohol had been evaded by exploitation of the bonded warehouse system. Eight appellants had their convictions quashed when it emerged that customs investigators had acted as agents provocateur and that a participating informant had been used and that the prosecution had failed to file proper disclosure of unused material.

R v Lawrence  2001 (2002) CLR 584
A six-handed carousel fraud. Probes had been inserted covertly in the accused office and in their cars. At trial the judge declined to exclude this evidence. He also ruled against an application to require the prosecution to give further disclosure, or to stay the prosecution as an abuse. These rulings were upheld on appeal.
(with David Etherington QC and Peter Rowlands)

R v P and ors 2000  (2001 1 AC 146)
An appeal concerning the admissibility of evidence gained from foreign telephone intercepts and the effect of Art 6 and Art 8 ECHR. The House of Lords decided that the use of foreign intercepts made and dealt with in accordance with the law of another jurisdiction was lawful in the UK.

R v (1) Webb (2) Simpson, sub nom AG’s reference s (nos 87 and 86 of 1999) 2000 QB 427 Arch 26-104
This case concerned the sentences imposed on two defendants convicted of false accounting and tax evasion after cheating the revenue of £1.9 million. Mr Webb had previously been subject to a tax investigation which was settled for tax owed, interest and a monetary penalty. After conviction he was fined £694,000. Simpson was fined £106,000 and they were made the subject of a £1.6m confiscation order. The Crown appealed against the sentences and in a landmark decision the Court of Appeal held that the appropriate sentences were four and half years imprisonment for Webb and eighteen months to two years for Simpson, because of the sophistication, length and severity of their activities.