Vincent Scully

Vincent regularly appears in the Crown Court, where he both prosecutes and defends. His recent experience as sole counsel includes a two-week prosecution of an immigration advisor for regulatory offences, prosecutions of armed gang robberies, large-scale organised drugs supply, serious violence, and defence of serious driving and dangerous dogs matters. Vincent has extensive experience of serious criminal trials, having been instructed by the CPS as second junior in several high profile and complex cases including R v Ben Lacomba, a missing-body murder, and R v PC Ben Monk & PC Bettley-Smith, the trial of police officers for the murder of premiership footballer Dalian Atkinson. He has also been instructed as first junior in other complex cases, including a series of more than 40 household burglaries in the West Midlands with a total value exceeding £1 million. He is currently instructed as second junior to prosecute a nine-handed historic child sex offences case concerning a special school.

Vincent has particular expertise in complex sentencing matters having worked to codify sentencing law at the Law Commission; these proposals have recently been enacted in the Sentencing Act 2020. Subsequently he spent time advising the Attorney and Solicitor General on whether high-profile sentences referred by members of the public were unduly lenient, giving him extensive experience in the full range of complex sentencing matters.

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.

The Financial Conduct Authority currently instructs Vincent in the regulatory case against Barclays Bank concerning its capital raisings in 2008.

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.

In pupillage, Vincent assisted in advising a listed company on the adequacy of its internal procedures for the purposes of the due diligence defence to the offence of a company failing to prevent bribery under section 7 of the Bribery Act 2010. He is now drafting a chapter for a forthcoming book on fraud investigations.

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 :evel 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 recently acted in restraint order proceedings for the Financial Conduct Authority in a multi-million pound investment fraud, and for the CPS to resist an application to discharge a restraint order brought in connection with insolvency proceedings.

Vincent has contributed a chapter to the forthcoming 6^th 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 (the court of final appeal in that jurisdiction) 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 withdrawal of the allegations.
• 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)).

He has also contributed a chapter on contempt in the context of POCA restraint and receivership orders to the forthcoming 6^th 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 is keen to develop his practice in this area.

Cases he was involved with 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.

During pupillage, Vincent assisted members of chambers with various aspects of the London Bridge terror attack inquests and the Undercover Policing Inquiry.

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 a member of the Government Legal Department’s “junior junior” scheme and has appeared for the Home Office in immigration matters dealing with human rights arguments. He has been instructed by the GLD to advise on disclosure by a government department into criminal proceedings, and by the FCDO to advise on the imposition of sanctions against individuals and organisations for human rights abuses and other breaches of international law, including in Ukraine.

Vincent 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 the 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 (forthcoming)

Criminal Fraud: Law, Practice & Procedure (forthcoming)

Miller on Contempt of Court (4^th 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)

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)

For Vincent Scully’s Privacy Notice. Click Here