Alex Bennie was instructed by, and assisted by the comprehensive preparations of, Alex Close-Claughton of Olliers Solicitors.
SM was charged with two others as a participant in a larger Class A county lines conspiracy which also involved his partner. The case posed challenges given admission by SM at the outset of supply of Class B drugs at the same time as the conspiracy was underway, and undisputed evidence of his involvement in the movements of two trafficked individuals.
The case demanded extensive preparations and precise handling of communications, cellsite, ANPR and tracking of conspirators’ vehicles to compare SM’s activities with those of other conspirators. In instances where his activities interlinked with the conspiracy the details were carefully interrogated and contextualised to challenge the level of knowledge assumed by the Crown’s case. Communications between SM and trafficked individuals were examined with similar rigour for reliable evidence that SM had knowingly involved himself in a Class A, rather than a Class B, conspiracy.
At the end of the trial SM was unanimously acquitted.