John Binns
John Binns is an experienced and versatile criminal defence lawyer, whose track record includes:
- Cartel defence – advising airline employees in connection with price-fixing allegations brought by the Office of Fair Trading and the US Department of Justice;
- Corruption – advising suspects and witnesses in high-profile investigations by the police and Serious Fraud Office;
- Extradition – including successful challenges to requests by the government of the Russian Federation on grounds of political motivation and breaches of the Human Rights Act;
- Fraud and business crime – including two of the largest prosecutions brought by the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO) alleging ‘carousel’ or ‘MTIC’ VAT frauds;
- Money laundering – numerous cases, including complex, high-profile allegations with a significant international element.
His recent work also includes cases brought by the Environment Agency and the NHS’ counter-fraud service, and proceedings for cash forfeiture, confiscation and restraint under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
John is also an author and editor, and has given interviews on legal topics to national press and on radio. He has written on disclosure and carousel fraud for the New Law Journal and contributed to the 2010 edition of the Police Station Adviser’s Index, and OUP’s Money Laundering Law and Regulation: A Practical Guide. He is a member of the London Criminal Courts Solicitors’ Association, and has coordinated or contributed to their responses to various government consultations.
John studied LLB Law at King’s College London and MPhil Criminology at Cambridge before qualifying as a solicitor in October 2000. He joined BCL Burton Copeland in January 2010, before which he worked for a leading criminal/regulatory defence firm of solicitors; before that, he was an in-house lawyer and policy adviser to the Legal Services Commission.
