Vincent Scully

Vincent is an experienced criminal barrister, regularly appearing in the most serious and complex cases for both the prosecution and defence. He has been led in a number of homicide cases, including the prosecution of PC Ben Monk for the killing of Aston Villa FC footballer Dalian Atkinson, the missing-body case of R v Ben Lacomba, and the accidental shooting of an 11-year-old girl in a playground in Wolverhampton.

As sole counsel, Vincent is often instructed in high profile cases such as the prosecution of a credit card fraud ring, large scale drugs trafficking operations, and high-profile protests. He has also acted as leading junior in a particularly complex protest case involving a conspiracy to cause a six-figure amount of criminal damage at a dairy processing plant. He acts for private clients in all kinds of cases, from regulatory and motoring matters to sexual allegations. He has extensive experience in defending Companies House prosecutions of directors under the Companies Act 2006.

Vincent is a Level 3 prosecutor for the CPS on the General Crime panel and the Serious Crime specialist panel.

Vincent regularly prosecutes for organisations other than the CPS, including local authorities and the Immigration Services Commissioner. He has also acted in private prosecutions by individuals, including the first known prosecution brought by a reservist against their employer for breach of the Reserve Forces (Safeguard of Employment) Act 1985. Vincent recently advised in a proposed fraud and regulatory prosecution against a bank.

Vincent is a member of the CPS Fraud specialist panel at Level 3, and the SFO’s prosecution panel at Level C.

In R v Rogberg, Bush & Scouler Vincent was instructed by the Serious Fraud Office in the retrial of three Tesco executives at Southwark Crown Court in Autumn 2018. He subsequently appeared for the SFO in the Court of Appeal and before Sir Brian Leveson PQBD in the Deferred Prosecution Agreement proceedings in connection with that case. He has subsequently been instructed by the SFO to lead the large disclosure exercise in an investment fraud case tried in 2022 (R v Schools, Kennedy and Emmett).

Vincent has previously been instructed as junior counsel by the Financial Conduct Authority in a without-notice restraint order application under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, and has experience in other confiscation matters on behalf of both defendants and prosecuting agencies. He has appeared and advised in Criminal Justice Act 1988 confiscation cases in the High Court and in the County Courts as well as in more typical POCA 2002 matters in the Crown Court.

Vincent is also regularly instructed in fraud matters in the Crown Court, with recent cases ranging from credit card frauds committed by employees to the forgery of COVID-19 test certificates.

Vincent contributed chapters to the leading practitioner text Kinglsey Napley & 6KBW College Hill: Serious Fraud, Investigation & Trial  5^th ed.

The Financial Conduct Authority currently instructs Vincent in the regulatory case against Barclays Bank concerning its capital raisings in 2008, which is being heard in the Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber). Vincent advises individuals and companies on financial regulatory issues with the FCA.

Vincent also deals with criminal regulatory cases, and has extensive experience of defending company directors for Companies Act 2006 breaches prosecuted by Companies House.

Vincent is a member of the CPS specialist proceeds of crime panel at Level 3 and the SFO proceeds of crime and international assistance panel at level C. He advises those organisations and defendants on legally challenging proceeds of crime cases, and has appeared in the High Court, County Court and Crown Court on POCA 2002 and CJA 1988 confiscation matters. He has acted in restraint order proceedings for the Financial Conduct Authority in a multi-million pound investment fraud, for the CPS to resist an application to discharge a restraint order brought in connection with insolvency proceedings, and for HMRC in property freezing and civil recovery proceedings.

Vincent has contributed a chapter to the forthcoming 6th edition of Millington and Sutherland Williams on the Proceeds of Crime on the enforcement of restraint and receivership orders through contempt proceedings.

In his previous work at the Attorney General’s Office, Vincent advised the Law Officers on whether to bring committal proceedings in cases across all types of contempt, and worked with the police and other authorities to manage investigations into potential contempts.

Now at the bar, Vincent has been involved in a number of contempt cases, including where he:

• successfully defended the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner and one of its employees from several allegations that they had committed a contempt in the face of the court by disobeying the court’s orders from a previous defendant in one of their prosecutions.
• advised a media organisation on how they could access and use information contained in court files without breaching the law.
• drafted submissions on specialist technical points arising in a civil contempt appeal to the Court of Appeal of Singapore in the case of VDZ v VEA [2020] SGCA 75.
• acted for the alleged contemnor in a High Court false statements contempt case brought by an insurance company, achieving a settlement involving the withdrawal of the allegations.
• acted for an alleged contemnor in the Chancery Division in civil contempt proceedings brought by Claridge’s Hotel against the maker of Claridge Candles, achieving the discontinuance of the proceedings.
• acted for an alleged contemnor in the Commercial Court in civil contempt proceedings arising out of a multimillion-pound lawsuit concerning a private jet. This case raised a number of entirely novel points of law, and Vincent succeeded in having all of the allegations dismissed on technical grounds (Olympic Council of Asia v Novans Jets LLP & ors [2023] EWHC 276 (Comm)).
• acted for the CPS in contempt proceedings for breach of a Proceeds of Crime Act restraint order.

He has also contributed a chapter on contempt in the context of POCA restraint and receivership orders to the 6th edition of OUP’s Millington and Sutherland Williams on the Proceeds of Crime.

At the Attorney General’s Office Vincent advised the Law Officers on the exercise of their powers to grant permission to apply for fresh inquests under section 12 of the Coroners Act 1988. From examining applications to assess whether previous inquests were flawed in that capacity, Vincent has developed a good working knowledge of inquest law, and now advises individuals on whether they can challenge decisions at inquests as well as representing interested parties at inquests.

Cases he has been involved in include Application of HM Coroner for NW Wales [2017] EWHC 2557 (Admin) concerning unidentified remains found on a beach in Anglesey and Application of HM Coroner for Eastern area of Greater London [2017] EWHC 3201 (Admin) concerning the victims of serial killer Stephen Port.

Vincent has wide experience of a range of public law matters from his time at the Attorney General’s Office, particularly with issues relating to charities and the criminal justice system in the broadest sense. He is now on the Attorney General’s panel of civil counsel and is regularly instructed by government agencies and individuals in public law matters, especially those which overlap with criminal law. Recent cases include a judicial review challenge to the regulator’s decision to summarily cancel the registration of an immigration advisor, and a public law challenge to a civil restraint order under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Vincent also accepts instructions in the full range of prison law matters – as a former Independent Monitoring Board member at HMP Belmarsh, he is particularly experienced in this area.

Vincent is regularly instructed by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (“FCDO”) to advise on the imposition of sanctions under the UK’s autonomous Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 regimes. He advises on the evidential sufficiency and human rights compatibility of proposed designations, and assists officials with improving their justifications for imposing sanctions on particular individuals or entities. He accepts instructions in all areas of sanctions litigation.

Millington & Sutherland Williams on the Proceeds of Crime (6^th ed., 2023, Oxford University Press)

Serious Fraud, Investigation and Trial (5^th ed., 2023, LexisNexis)

Miller on Contempt of Court (4th ed., 2017, Miller and Perry (eds), Oxford University Press)

Attorney General’s References: practice, procedure, and problems [2018](2) Arch Rev 6

Transition and the Law Commission’s New Sentencing Code [2016](7) Arch Rev 4

On Target: the Law Commission’s Consultation on reforming firearms law [2015](7) Arch Rev 7

Reforming Offences Against the Person – Seventh time lucky? [2015](10) Arch Rev 4

Public Nuisance and Outraging Public Decency (2015) 179(27) CL&J

CPS Level 3 prosecutor (POCA, Fraud and Serious Crime specialist panels and general panel)

SFO Counsel Panel List at Level C (prosecutions panel and proceeds of crime and international assistance panel)

Attorney General’s Panel of Civil Counsel at level C

Clerk to the Bar Disciplinary Tribunal

MA, Law, Fitzwilliam College Cambridge (first class)

Queen Mother Scholarship, Middle Temple (2015-17)

1912 Senior Scholarship, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge (2014)

ECS Wade Constitutional Law Prize, University of Cambridge (2012)

Squire Fund Scholarship, University of Cambridge (2012)

Whitlock Prize, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge (2012)

Tim Gray Scholarship Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge (2012)

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