Adam Payter

• Fraud
• Corporate Crime and Investigations
• Criminal Litigation
• Health and Safety
• Restraint, Confiscation and Asset Forfeiture
• Extradition and Mutual Legal Assistance
• Inquests and Public Inquiries
• Public and Administrative Law
• Prison law and the Parole Board
• Disciplinary Tribunals
• International Criminal Work

Adam is recognised as “an exceptionally astute fraud lawyer”, “flexible, approachable and hardworking”; “able to get to grips with complex underlying material very quickly” with a “a great knowledge of the SFO” (Legal 500). In recent years, he has acted in seven SFO cases, including two of the first Deferred Prosecution Agreement matters. The issues have included concurrent Department of Justice proceedings; non-prosecution agreements in the USA and immunity or leniency agreements pursuant to SOCPA 2005.

Adam’s SFO experience includes:

• Successfully defending the former Head of Sales of Güralp Systems Limited accused of conspiracy to make corrupt payments to a South Korean public official between 2002 and 2015: SFO v Natalie Pearce & Otrs.
• The first challenge to a DPA: AL v SFO [2018] EWHC 856.
• The first case brought by the SFO under the Bribery Act 2010, which concerned a ‘Ponzi’ scheme through the sale of biofuel investments in jatropha tree plantations in Cambodia: SFO v Whale, West & Stone [2016] EWCA Crim 742.
• A judicial review claim seeking to terminate an SFO investigation raising issues under Article 8 ECHR and the EU Directive on the right to information in criminal proceedings: R (Soma Oil & Gas) v SFO [2016] EWHC 2471; CL&J 2016, 180(40).
• A challenge to the SFO’s investigation into possible money laundering arising from suspicions of corruption concerning the Ukrainian gas company Burisma of which Hunter Biden was a board member: Zlochevskyi v SFO.
• A judicial review challenge to a section 2 notice issued to an individual as part of the SFO’s investigation into ENRC Ltd.
• Case counsel in the SFO’s ongoing investigation into Ethical Forestry Ltd.

Adam is also experienced in internal investigations and financial crime proceedings brought by other prosecuting agencies. His experience includes:

• Restraint proceedings brought by the FCA as part of its investigation into an alleged collective investment scheme and the fraudulent misleading of investors.
• Successfully defending a company and its sole director in a private prosecution brought by a supplier for fraud offences in relation to a cholesterol-reducing cheese (LoCol) sold in the major supermarkets: JMC Foods Ltd v Angel Technology Ltd.
• Representing the ex-Mayor of Glastonbury and former director of Crown Current Exchange, one of the UK’s largest personal currency exchange businesses, accused of fraudulent trading: R v Edward James.
• Overseas corruption in Saudi Arabia in the heat treatment industry and related money laundering: R v Oliver & Greenaway.
• Acting for major international companies in relation to criminal allegations of voicemail interception, corruption and misuse of private information (Operations Weeting, Elveden and Tuleta); and investigations into overseas corruption (GSK and Alstom).

He is an author of Serious Fraud, Investigation & Trial (LexisNexis Butterworths).

Adam is experienced in all manner of general criminal matters from multi-handed murder trials to terrorism cases. He is noted to be a “very skilful and thoughtful advocate” (Chambers & Partners) and as showing “great insight and tactical awareness about how to achieve the best result” (Legal 500).  His work includes:

• Advice in relation to ‘Partygate’.
• First prosecution under the National Security Act 2023, which concerns conduct on UK soil designed to assist the Russian Federation in the war against Ukraine: R v Earl & Otrs.
• Theft of top-secret data from a sensitive government agency: R v Arshad.
• The prosecution of a lawyer and two police officers for perverting the course of justice in relation to the 1989 Hillsborough stadium tragedy: R v Metcalf, Denton & Foster.
• The prosecution and disciplinary proceedings brought against two MPS police officers following the shooting of a suspect in Wimbledon: R v NX1 & MY55.
• The prosecution of a police officer forperverting the course of justice by encouraging the victim of an assault to accept a bribe from the perpetrators: R v Hopkins.
• The first cases arising out of the ‘horsemeat scandal’: R v Boddy & Moss; R v Raw-Rees & Patterson.
• The prosecution of a covid-19 conspiracy theorist for plotting to destroy communications masts: R v Oliver Lewin.
• The prosecution of ISIS supporters for funding terrorism and disseminating terrorist publications: R v Mohammed & Nurhussein.
• Securing the acquittal of an Extinction Rebellion protestor for criminal damage on the basis she had a lawful excuse.
• Successfully representing DSEI arms fair protestors arguing they acted in the prevention of crime: R v Ditchfield & Otrs [2017] EWHC 1794 (Admin).
• A successful stated case appeal against the conviction of protestors who blocked the road into AWE Burghfield in an action against Trident renewal: Carter-Brown & Otrs v CPS [2017] EWHC 1955 (QB).
• Securing the acquittal of a defendant accused of murder in a double gangland shooting: R v Atkinson & Otrs.
• Advising a major international charity on its compliance with UK terrorism legislation.

Adam is “a go-to junior in mutual legal assistance and extradition work” (Legal 500) who is “impressive and tenacious” and “a very bright and formidable opponent” (Chambers and Partners). As a result, he has a thriving extradition practice acting for requested persons, judicial authorities and foreign governments in the most “difficult extradition matters” (Chambers and Partners). His experience includes:

• Successful Divisional Court appeal on the ground of forum against the extradition of a FX trader wanted for laundering the proceeds of the OneCoin cryptocurrency fraud: USA v Hamilton [2023] EWHC 2893 (Admin).
• Successful Divisional Court appeal against extradition, which raised issues of political persecution, judicial independence, corporate raiding, prison conditions and allegations of torture: Shmatko v The Russian Federation [2018] EWHC 3534.
• Securing the discharge of the former CEO of the sole supplier of electricity to the Russian Ministry of Defence wanted in the Russian Federation for embezzlement: RF v Alexander Zmikhnovskiy.
• Acting for company directors wanted in India for allegations of fraud in relation to the operation and sale of a well-known rice export business: India v Awasty.
• A request following an alleged multi-billion pound bribery scheme concerning Eskom, Africa’s largest utility company, arising from an ongoing public inquiry into ‘state capture’ and corruption in South Africa: RSA v Lomas.
• Securing the discharge of a Greek academic following his conviction for the ‘criminal slander’ of politicians: Greece v Diakomanolis.
• Acting on behalf of Shane Looker wanted in Thailand for murder.
• Acting on behalf of the former president of the University College of the Cayman Islands in a cross-jurisdictional application for judicial review to challenge in the UK courts an extradition request made by the Governor of a British Overseas Territory to Switzerland: R (Syed) v Governor of the Cayman Islands.
• A habeas corpus application for an individual extradited from Spain to the UK subject to a re-trial guarantee, which the UK could not observe: Tague v Governor of HMP Full Sutton [2015] EWHC 3576; Crim LR 2016, 6, 418-421.
• Article 3 ECHR prison conditions arguments, including leading cases on the Russian, Latvian, Romanian and Armenian prison estates, as well as cases concerning detention in USA, Brazil, India, South Africa, Albania, Canada, Cyprus, the Cayman Islands, Estonia and North Macedonia.
• The leading Divisional Court case on the correct approach to Article 8 ECHR and the standard of review on appeal: Celinski [2015] EWHC 1274.

Adam is experienced in mutual legal assistance matters including multi-jurisdictional disclosure issues. He is well-versed in challenging INTERPOL red notices.

He is an author of EU Law in Criminal Practice (Oxford University Press). His publications include ‘Recent developments in extradition law – some practical implications’ Crim LR 2015, 7, 504-521; ‘Extradition law – recent developments and the potential impact of Brexit’ Crim LR 2016, 10, 743-764; ‘Extradition Update: Absence of Prosecution Decisions, the Forum Bar, Prison Conditions and the Right to a Fair Trial’ Crim LR 2019, 1, 17-31.

Adam regularly acts for regulators, companies and individuals in relation to health and safety matters. He has significant expertise in food safety cases. His experience includes:

• Pre-charge advice in relation to the criminal investigation into the Grenfell tower fire, which includes suspected corporate manslaughter.
• Successfully acting for Pret a Manger following alleged allergy-related incidents.
• Gross negligence manslaughter following a death of an employee at an apple farm: R v Blackmoor Estate Co & Andrew Stocker.
• Gross negligence manslaughter of a 10-year-old girl following hospital treatment: R v Carrie-Ann Nash.
• The first cases arising out of the ‘horsemeat scandal’ concerning traceability and food labelling offences: R v Boddy & Moss; R v Raw-Rees & Patterson.
• Securing the dismissal of charges against a company and its sole director for alleged breaches of food labelling legislation: JMC Foods Ltd v Angel Technology Ltd.
• Defending a company following an incident at its factory where an employee’s hand was pulled into a printing machine: HSE v VP Packaging.
• The electrocution of a demolition worker at the former Molecular Products site in Essex: HSE v R B Haighs & Sons & AJ Wadhams & Co Limited.
• A rooftop fall at an engineering company: HSE v MJ Allen Holdings [2016] EWCA Crim 2142, in which the Court of Appeal addressed the new sentencing guidelines.
• Asbestos in NHS buildings: HSE v West Herts Hospital NHS Trust.
• A crane collapse at a construction site in Essex: HSE v McCarthy & Stone Retirement Lifestyles Ltd.

Adam is experienced in statutory inquiries and Article 2 ECHR inquests, acting for bereaved families and those at risk of criticism and regulators, including the ORR, CQC and HE. He has particular experience of inquests involving the police, terrorism, national security, prisons, the military and railways. His work includes:

• Acting for the National Association of Care and Support Workers in the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.
• Acting for families in the inquests and public inquiry arising from the Manchester Arena terror attack on 22 May 2017.
• Acting for a key Core Participant in the Undercover Policing Inquiry.
• Acting for Pret a Manger following an alleged allergy-related death.
• Acting for Deliveroo following an allergy-related death.
• Acting for a pilot in an inquest following the fatal crash of a Leonardo M-346 Fighter Attack aircraft in Italy.
• Acting for a key witness in the inquest into the death of Pt. Sean Benton at Deepcut Barracks in 1995.
• Acting for the family in an inquest into the death of a serving solider at Beachley Barracks in 2017.
• Acting for the family in an inquest into the death of a serving solider at Combermere Barracks in 2019.
• Securing an order to exhume the body of a repatriated relative to conduct an autopsy following a death in suspicious circumstances.
• Representing a cosmetic surgeon at an inquest into the death of a patient following treatment at a private clinic.
• Acting in an inquest following the death of a sectioned man who died from a condition related to his mental health diagnosis.
• Representing a family at an inquest into the death of a disabled man who had been in police custody and the care of two NHS Trusts.
• Acting for the family of a prisoner in which concerns were raised about the quality of prison healthcare and the care provided by the guards at night.

Adam was previously employed by Liberty to advise members of the public on civil liberties and all aspects of the Human Rights Act 1998. He advised on issues including data protection; prison law; actions against the police; the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000; inquests and the right to peaceful protest. He is a former elected member of Liberty’s Policy Council.

Adam has a flourishing public law practice. In addition to the judicial review challenges to decisions of the SFO (set out above), his experience includes:

• A successful judicial review challenge to the findings recorded in a Record of Inquest in a case of suicide resulting from emotional abuse: Hunter & Bennett v HMAC for County Durham and Darlington.
• A successful judicial review challenge to the decision of the IOPC to close an investigation: Mahony v IOPC.
• Advising on a judicial review claim following the IOPC’s investigation into the conduct of MPS police officers responsible for investigating allegations made by Carl Beech (aka ‘Nick’).
• Numerous judicial review challenges in the prison and parole context including to a prisoner’s status following transfer from Thailand: Neville v SSJ [2021] EWHC 957; the imposition of an exclusion zone as part of licence conditions; E-list designation; detention in the restrictive regime of a Closed Supervision Centre; and access to artificial insemination facilities.
• A judicial review claim against the NCA for refusing to confirm or deny whether a witness was a protected person.
• A judicial review challenge to a police decision to disclose intelligence data to an employer following an enhanced DBS check.
• Advising a company on a challenge to search warrants obtained by the police to search the company’s offices.
• Successfully appealing a decision by the CICA to the First-Tier Tribunal on the basis that the 2012 criminal injuries compensation scheme imposed a retrospective obligation to report the crime to the police and did not guarantee “fair and appropriate compensation for victims” within the meaning of the relevant EU Directive.

Adam is well-versed in police and medical disciplinary proceedings. He is instructed by individual officers and registrants, unions (e.g. RCN and MDU) and regulators (e.g. NMC and BSB) in the full range of fitness to practise hearings including conduct, competence, and health cases, High Court applications and registration appeals. Examples of Adam’s experience include representing an officer accused of unlawfully discharging his firearm at a suspect (NX1 & MY55); medical cases concerning the death of a patient in a care home; the sexual exploitation of patients with mental health issues; allegations of dishonesty and medication overdoses.

In 2008, Adam was a Judicial Assistant to the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.  He worked on the case of Popovic et al. (IT-05-88), the seven-handed genocide case concerning the Srebrenica massacre.

• Attorney General’s Panel of Junior Counsel to the Crown (B Panel)
• Serious Fraud Office – Prosecution (A List)
• List of Specialist Regulatory Advocates in Health and Safety and Environmental Law (B Panel)
• Crown Prosecution Service – General Crime (Level 4), Serious Crime, Fraud, Terrorism and Extradition (Level 3)
• Justice of the Peace, Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court (2008-2011)

In 2015, Adam was nominated for the Sydney Elland Goldsmith Bar Pro Bono Award, in recognition of outstanding commitment to pro bono work.  He is now a Bar Pro Bono Unit case reviewer.

During his studies, Adam was awarded the Lincoln’s Inn Wolfson Scholarship, Hardwicke Award and Buchanan Prize. During pupillage, Adam won the Kalisher Essay Competition 2010, with an entry entitled: “Should a defendant be given the right to opt out and be tried by judge alone or judge and lay assessors?”

Adam has experience of providing pre-publication advice on aspects of media law, including defamation, copyright, privacy and confidence and reporting restrictions.

Adam is qualified to accept direct instructions from individuals and companies.

• Former Treasurer and Chair of the Young Fraud Lawyers’ Association.
• Member of the Criminal Bar Association; Fraud Lawyers’ Association; Extradition Lawyers’ Association; Defence Extradition Lawyers’ Forum; INQUEST Lawyers’ Group; Private Prosecutors’ Association; and the Health and Safety Lawyers Association.

Grenfell tower fire – Providing pre-charge advice on all aspects of the criminal investigation into the fatal fire.

Partygate – Advice in relation to the criminal investigation into gatherings in government buildings during the covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

Pret a Manger – Representing Pret in criminal and coronial proceedings following alleged allergy-related incidents.

Deliveroo – Representing Deliveroo in an inquest following an allergy-related death.

R v Metcalf, Denton & Foster – Prosecution of a lawyer and two police officers for perverting the course of justice in the aftermath of the Hillsborough tragedy.

Covid-19 Inquiry – Acting for the National Association of Care and Support workers.

Manchester Arena terror attack inquest – Acting for families in the inquests and public inquiry arising from the deaths in the Manchester Arena terror attack on 22 May 2017.

SFO v Natalie Pearce & Otrs – Successfully defending the former Head of Sales of Güralp Systems Limited accused of conspiracy to make corrupt payments to a South Korean public official between 2002 and 2015.

AL v SFO [2018] EWHC 856 – The first challenge to a Deferred Prosecution Agreement.

SFO v West, Whale & Stone [2016] EWCA Crim 742 – First case brought by the SFO under the Bribery Act 2010.

R (Soma Oil & Gas) v Director of the SFO [2016] EWHC 2471; CL&J 2016, 180(40) – A judicial review claim seeking a mandatory order to terminate an SFO investigation, which raised issues under Article 8 ECHR and the EU Directive on the right to information in criminal proceedings.

Zlochevskyi v Director of the SFO (2017) – A judicial review claim seeking a mandatory order to terminate an SFO money laundering investigation arising from suspicions of corruption in Ukraine following the regime change in 2014.

SFO v XYZ Ltd ­(2017) – Advising in relation to extradition proceedings linked to the SFO’s second DPA case.

R v Edward James ­­(2015) – Defending a former director of one of the UK’s largest currency exchange businesses accused of fraudulent trading.

R v Boddy & Moss; R v Raw-Rees & Patterson (2015) – Food fraud and forgery arising from the horsemeat scandal.  

HSE v MJ Allen Holdings [2016] EWCA Crim 2142 – Health and safety case in which the Court of Appeal addressed the new sentencing guidelines.

R v Ditchfield & Otrs [2017] EWHC 1794 (Admin) – Representing DSEI arms fair protestors arguing they acted in the prevention of crime.

Carter-Brown & Otrs v CPS [2017] EWHC 1955 (QB) –  Successful stated case appeal against conviction of protestors who blocked the road into AWE Burghfield in an action against Trident renewal.

USA v Hamilton [2023] EWHC 2893 (Admin): Successful Divisional Court appeal on the ground of forum against the extradition of a FX trader wanted in the USA to face trial for laundering the proceeds of the OneCoin cryptocurrency fraud.

Shmatko v The RF [2018] EWHC 3534 (Admin) – Successful Divisional Court appeal against extradition to the Russian Federation on behalf of businessman accused of VAT fraud in the energy sector, which raised issues of political persecution, judicial independence, corporate raiding, prison conditions and allegations of torture.

Celinski & Otrs v Polish and Slovakian Judicial Authorities [2015] EWHC 1274 (Admin) – Important Divisional Court case on the correct approach to Article 8 and the standard of review on appeal.

• Cardiff Law School Bar Vocational Course (Outstanding);
• Awarded the Lincoln’s Inn Wolfson Scholarship, Hardwicke Award & Buchanan Prize;
• Winner of the Kalisher Essay Competition 2010;
• University of Nottingham, LLB (Hons), Law.

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