Roy Ledgister Obe

MURDER

R v Simmons – Lead counsel defending man charged with the assassination of a rival gang member, allegedly firing 12 shots into the deceased in a crowded bar. The defendant had previously been acquitted of murder of an associate of the deceased in a well-publicised murder trial.

R v M and others – multi-handed murder where all accused were alleged to have arranged a drug deal to rob the supplier of his drugs and murder him. Armed with a loaded handgun and silencer, the deceased was shot three times in the back on a public street and was heard to plead for his life before shots were fired. Defendant acquitted.

R v Sinclair – Leading counsel at the Old Bailey acting on behalf of a young defendant charged with Victoria train station murder of 15-year-old Sofian Belamouadden, who was stabbed before rush hour commuters on the station concourse. Only junior leader amongst 20 Queens Counsel in a case involving the most defendants tried on a single count of murder in the UK.

R v Goren and others – on behalf of the main defendant in a conspiracy to murder his daughter Tulay Goren and attempting to murder her boyfriend in an ‘honour killing’ where the body has never been recovered.

R v Abrahams – Leading counsel at the Old Bailey acting on behalf of a defendant charged with attempted murder of two men who were lured to an address and shot several times, including to the head and body.

R v Sydney – Acting on behalf of the defendant alleged to have chased and shot repeatedly at the victim after he exited a Christening service holding a baby in his hands.

R v Richmond and others – Defending the main defendant, a 13-year-old boy charged with the murder of Kojo Yenga in Hammersmith.

R v Costa – Defending male charged with the Oxford Street Murder, which occurred outside McDonald’s in broad daylight following an altercation with the victim who was awaiting trial in a high-profile sex case.

R v Kerr and another – Defendant charged with murder and double attempt murder following a street incident where a knife was used.

R v Wilson and others – Conspiracy to murder, kidnap and false imprisonment case in which Acted on behalf of defendant owed £20k by the main victim who operated a cannabis farm. The defendant instructed a gang to recover the money owed by kidnapping and torturing the owner and staff of the cannabis farm. The torture included beating, drowning, electrocution, assault with a nail gun and pouring of acid on two victims, and death arose from using a metal pole to sexually assault the deceased. The deceased’s family members were kidnapped and tortured and subjected to atrocities in a disused barn and made to watch the murder. The case attracted mass media attention as one of the defendants was, at the time, an undercover BBC reporter.

R v Johnson and others – a 16-handed murder trial resulting in the death of a student in the Southall area due to mistaken identity.

R v Akinfenwa and others – Acting on behalf of the defendant charged with conspiracy to murder a youth in a ‘honey trap’ whereby the deceased was lured to his death by his girlfriend so a rival gang could assault him.

R v Bisson and others – Shooting resulting in the death of a man following an argument in a public house.

R v Alvis and others – multi-handed gangland conspiracy to murder in London where deceased was murdered.

R v Stephenson and others – Murder of the girlfriend of a robbery target who disturbed the gang at her home address. The victim was brutally murdered with multiple stab wounds and left to die at an address in Walthamstow.

R v Farrel and others – Conspiracy to murder.

R v Thwaites and others – Attempted murder of a man in a car park outside of a nightclub arising from a pre-existing feud. The defendant was pursued through the streets of South London by several police cars and fired shots at the various vehicles with a submachine gun hitting police cars.

R v Nettleford and others – Defended a man charged with double murder in London and conspiracy to murder in the Bristol area. The prosecution alleged that the gang split up to coordinate the assassinations to take place both in London and Bristol at the same time, resulting in the death of a man on a dance floor in a Croydon nightclub and a bouncer who opened fire with an assault rifle intending to hit a rival gang member. The intended target escaped with non-life-threatening injuries, though two female passengers who had accepted a lift were hit, resulting in blindness to one and paralysing injuries to the other.

MONEY LAUNDERING

R v Rochester and others – Acting as lead advocate in a money laundering case in which it was alleged that the defendant laundered up to £20m through the Caribbean.

DRUGS

R v Beckford and others – multi-handed conspiracy to supply Class A drugs involving covert police operation.

R v Rochester and others – Acting on behalf of the main defendant in a conspiracy to import class A drugs into the UK using a cabin crew member as the means for couriering the drugs.

R v Ormsby and others – Acting as lead advocate on behalf of a defendant charged with conspiracy to supply Class A drugs in what was said to be the largest drugs operation in the region at the time.

R v Murphy and others – Conspiracy to supply Class A.

R v Shah – Acting as lead advocate on behalf of a female charged with conspiracy to supply class A drugs in SE England.

OTHER SIGNIFICANT CASES

R v Burke and others – Conspiracy to kidnap family members of a serving prisoner as they left a Manchester prison. Following a controlled ransom drop, the defendants recovered the money without detection.

R v Toygun and others – European police operation uncovering a conspiracy to facilitate the unlawful entry of Turkish nationals to the UK in ‘people smuggling’ matter.

R v Coe – Defending man who attempted to fire a sawn-off shotgun at point-blank range at police officers in the Leeds area following a car chase. Due to the poor condition of the gun, it failed to discharge the cartridge but emitted smoke.

R v Ssekemate and others – Defending a man charged with conspiracy to falsely imprison and kidnap a victim who owed a debt. The victim was abducted near his home address and rescued by police days later.

R v Ali and others – Defendant charged with conspiracy to kidnap and cause GBH of a youth alleged to have assaulted the defendant’s younger brother. The victim was kidnapped and taken to a different location where he was stabbed with a knife, attacked with a meat cleaver and wounded with a machete and samurai sword allegedly purchased explicitly for the assault.

R v Kaduji and others – ‘Gone in 60 seconds’ thefts – Defendant charged with conspiracy to steal high-value motor vehicles in £3m car ringing sting involving celebrities being targeted.

R v Hall and ten others – Lead counsel acting on behalf of the ex-Deputy Prime Minister of Turks and Caicos Islands (main defendant) who is charged along with ten others with several offences arising from alleged corruption between government ministers and developers in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Following a Commission of Inquiry led by Sir Robin Auld in 2009, the UK government suspended the TCI-elected government and directly ruled the islands under a British governor. A Special Investigations Prosecution Team (SIPT) launched an investigation into allegations of widespread corruption of elected ministers, persons connected with them and several developers. The prosecution is being conducted in the TCI Supreme Court.

R v Straker & Others – Successfully defended the only director/shareholder in the first-ever contested Land Banking Fraud prosecution. The prosecution alleged that the defendant and his co-directors set up numerous companies as vehicles to defraud investors of money in exchange for worthless plots of land within the United Kingdom. Hundreds of experienced investors parted with over £3.5m during the short life of the conspiracy as sales staff used pressure techniques, making false and extravagant representations of the plots’ value and investment potential. Although the defendants owned some of the sites offered for sale, they also sold land they had no right to market or sell.

R v Aziz and others – conspiracy to defraud – mortgage fraud and money laundering

R v Osenie and others – A large-scale conspiracy to defraud, in which members of the public’s bank accounts were compromised by staff working in banks or customer service departments who passed on the details, resulting in millions being defrauded.

R v Ahmed and others – multi-handed conspiracy to defraud clearing banks.