David Hewitt

Year of Call: 1991

David Hewitt (known as "Harry") is a criminal practitioner who specialises in financial crime. He prosecutes and defends either as leader or junior, primarily in all types of financial crime. For the prosecution he is regularly instructed by prosecution agencies such as the Revenue and Customs Division of the CPS, the DWP, the Department for BIS (previously the DTI), SOCA and the CPS. The cases that he is instructed in on behalf of the prosecution tend to involve complex disclosure issues, frequently necessitating visits to outside agencies to review highly sensitive material. He has appeared in a number of arms control cases: materials capable of being used in nuclear weapons programmes being exported to Iran and sniper rifle sights being sent to Iran to name but two.

Harry was leading prosecution counsel in a large international identity fraud investigated by SOCA which was presented by way of EPE; almost uniquely the jury retired to deliberate with laptops loaded only with the exhibits that had been produced and viewed during the trial. The case resulted in all defendants being convicted.

Between 2007-2010 Harry was leading prosecution counsel in a large money-laundering case involving 15 defendants entailing two multi-hander trials. Currently he is instructed as prosecution counsel in the London Illegal Money-Lending Team's largest investigation (although the Team has now been disbanded). He recently appeared as junior in a European Parliament expenses fraud, instructed by leading white-collar crime solicitors BCL Burton Copeland to represent an MEP's researcher.

Harry has been on the AG's Unified List of Prosecuting Advocates, List A for a number of years and a CPS Prosecutor, currently Grade 3. In 2007 he was appointed to the AG's list of Special Advocates. Special Advocates are appointed in cases in which there is material which cannot be disclosed to the defendant or applicant but upon which the tribunal deems it necessary for representations to be made on their behalf. To carry out this role he has been develop vetted and is so until 2014. He is currently appointed as Special Advocate at the request of the Parole Board in a matter where the Defendant who was sentenced to a 20 year sentence has been recalled to prison after allegedly breaching the terms of his licence.

He is also an expert in confiscation and civil forfeiture proceedings.

Professional Memberships

Middle Temple, Criminal Bar Association, South Eastern Circuit, Proceeds of Crime Lawyers' Association

Pupil supervisor

Yes

Appointments

AG's List of Special Advocates

Specialist Practice Areas

5 St. Andrew's Hill represents clients throughout the UK, including South East England, the Thames Valley, the Midlands, and Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Surrey, Berkshire, Hampshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, Bedfordshire, London, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Leicester, Coventry, Southampton, Reading, Northampton, Portsmouth, Luton, Milton Keynes, Swindon, Oxford, Brighton, Slough, Gloucester, Watford, Cambridge, Reading, Bracknell, Basingstoke and Guildford.