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Representative cases:

 

Licensing

 

Festivals, Arenas, Live Music Venues, Museums, Cinemas, Theme Parks & Multi-Use Venues

 

  • Tate Modern - obtained a new and extended premises licence for the world's most visited modern art museum following its £260 million extension. The new "Blavatnik Building" building has been described by cultural commentators as "London's first great public building of the 21st century" and "the most important cultural building in UK since the British Library opened in 1998".

  • Brixton O2 Academy - instructed to advise local authority following the fatal crush incident in December 2022

  • Borough Yards - obtained 14 new bar and restaurant licences for £300 million re-development in the heart of Southwark's Cumulative Impact Zone

  • Hackney Bridge - obtained 3 late night licences for major new work and leisure development in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park from the makers of Pop Brixton and Peckham levels.

  • Notting Hill Carnival  – obtained a number of contested premises licences and temporary event notices for major sound-stages over several years before both Westminster City Council and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

  • London Olympic Festival 2012, Greenwich Peninsula - a series of successful licence applications for 20,000 person music concerts, leisure complex, campsites and Europe's largest "urban" beach

  • The O2 (formerly the Millennium Dome) – original premises licence application (for Commissioner of Metropolitan Police)​

  • Field Day Festival (Meridian Water, 2019-2023)- premises licence application (for Metropolitan Police) 

  • Secret Cinema - premises licence for their new London base (2018)

  • Everyman Cinemas - series of premises licence applications around the UK (2018) 

  • Standon Calling - premises licence application for annual rock festival

  • St. Katharine Docks, London Olympic Festival - securing Premises Licence on behalf of Danish Tourist Board

  • Twickenham Rugby Stadium - series of licensing applications related to events at the Stadium

  • Lock 'n' Load Music Festival, Clapham Common – magistrates’ court appeal

  • Lingfield Park  Racecourse - track betting licence application

  • Folkestone Racecourse - track betting licence application

  • Yarnton Manor on behalf of residents' group, successfully resisted a controversial application for a premises licence that would have permitted year round music festivals by the operators of The Manor. Entire application refused.

  • Test Bed and Doodle Bar, Wandsworth - obtained heavily contested licence application for riverside arts and entertainment complex

  • Marsh Farm Animal Adventure Park - obtained new premises licence in face of over 100 residential objectors.

  • Friends of Finsbury Park - acted for residents' group in relation to a series of concerts and pop festivals

  • Peckham Levels - obtained premises licence for a 900,000 square foot redevelopment of a 7-storey Southwark car park into bars, restaurants, food halls, creative spaces and work studios

  • Walton Castle - obtained new heavily-contested premises licence 

  • London College of Creative Media - new premises licence within Southwark's cumulative impact area

  • Bussey Building - obtained 3am licence for new live music venue in Peckham's Cultural Quarter as an exception to Southwark's Cumulative Impact  Policy

 

 

Restaurants, Hotels and stores

 

  • Chiltern Firehouse - successful extension of licence despite high level of residential objections.

  • W Hotel, Leicester Square - successfully defended police Summary Review following high-profile public order incident.

  • London Trocadero - obtained a number of new restaurant licences in this landmark redevelopment (2018-2019)

  • Hard Rock Cafe, Piccadilly, London - obtained new premises licence for flagship store with a standalone bar as an exception to Westminster's Stress Policy

  • Hilton Hart Hotel, Shoreditch - obtained new premises licence for basement fine-dining/projection-screening venue "Byrd" within Shoreditch cumulative impact area.

  • Amazon Fresh - obtained new premises licences within cumulative impact areas (including Islington and Hackney) for Amazon's innovative "Just Walk Out" convenience stores.

  • McDonald's - various applications, reviews and appeals for both McDonald's and franchisees 

  • Casa Cruz, Notting Hill - successful defence of the "celebrity" restaurant at a review hearing  following the widely-reported Covid-breaching birthday party of Rita Ora.

  • Blakes Hotel, London - new and extended premises licence for the world's first 5-star luxury boutique hotel (2019)

  • Rabbit and The Shed - successful appeal for an award-winning Chelsea/Notting Hill restaurateur against a summary-review decision taken by the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea that prohibited him from entering his own restaurants following a widely-publicised firearms incident.

  • Albion - obtained new premises licence for Sir Terence Conran and Peter Prescott's new Clerkenwell restaurant/cafe/retail store as an exception to Islington's cumulative impact policy

  • Park Chinois - obtained new late hours premises licence for Alan Yau OBE's £16million new restaurant development in London's Mayfair.

  • Hai Di Lao - new late hours licence for the global "hot-pot" restaurant group for their European flagship branch in London's Trocadero as exception to Westminster's Stress Policy, 

  • McDonald's - acted for major franchisees and main group in successfully resisting review proceedings brought by police forces and obtaining early hours licence extensions in various London cumulative impact areas and obtaining new 24hr licence.

  • Aquacasia (tbc) - obtained new 24hr licence for renowned hotelier and restaurateur MPS Puri's  new "Aquacasia" restaurant linked to the Grosvenor House Hotel, London (to open in 2017)

  • Aubaine – obtained 24hr restaurant and bar licence at the Hilton Hotel, Hyde Park.

  • Granger & Co – obtained heavily contested licence for TV chef Bill Granger’s new Clerkenwell restaurant as an exception to Islington’s cumulative impact policy

  • Grupo Sagardi - obtained the international restaurant group's first UK premises licence as an exception to Shoreditch's Special Policy for their new Basque-gastronomy restaurant.

  • Za Za Bazaar – obtained late hours licence for what is believed to be the UK’s largest restaurant as an exception to Bristol's cumulative impact policy

  • Okku - late night licence obtained for famed Dubai restaurant’s proposed venture in St James', London

  • River Lounge, St Katharine's Dock - successful appeal against revocation (involving Rt Hon David Mellor QC, naked dancing girls and covert audio recordings of un-neighbourly disputes. Widely reported in the national press on 10 June 2010)

  • Gilgamesh, leading London restaurant - summary review

  • Princi - Soho's boutique bakery/restaurant - new late hours licence granted (exception to Westminster's stress policy)

  • Cha Cha Moon, Whiteleys and Soho branches - late hours applications (exception to Westminster's stress policy)

  • Busaba Eathai - successful late hours applications (exception to Tower Hamlet's stress policy)

  • Grand Boutique Hotel, Leigh on Sea - successfully obtained heavily contested new licence for this controversial development

  • Chinatown Zone - several new applications/variations in Soho for Bourne Capital.

  • Babaji Pide - obtained new licence for Alan Yau's contemporary Turkish restaurant as an exception to Westminster's Stress Policy

  • Market Halls - new premises licence granted for large food dining hall in face of scores of residential objections 

 

Nightclubs, Bars, Pubs & Social Gaming

 

  • Atik/Pryzm - grant of new nightclub licences for Rekom UK in various locations around England

  • Flight Club, London Victoria – obtained extended hours for flagship branch of darts themed venue

  • The Crane, Birmingham – acted for West Midlands Police in summary review proceedings following fatal stabbing in December 2022

  • The Cow, Notting Hill - successful defence of the famous gastro-pub at a review hearing following allegations of Covid-breaches.

  • Bloc South - obtained "unprecedented" new 5am nightclub licence for venue in the Vauxhall Triangle in what Time Out described as a "landmark ruling" 

  • Light Bar - obtained new premises licence for this iconic Shoredictch venue as an exception to Hackney's Special Policy

  • Simmons Bars - obtained extended licences as exceptions to policy in both Camden Town and Liverpool Street 

  • Mr Fogg's - obtained extended hours licence for multi-award winning Mayfair bar (and London residence of the eccentric British Adventurer Phileas J Fogg Esq) operated by the Inception Group's Charlie Gilkes and Duncan Stirling

  • 141 Park Lane - obtained rare 06:30hrs licence for exclusive London nightclub

  • Pacha, London - successfully resisted premises licence reviews and gained additional hours on appeal

  • Punchbowl – acted for successful operator in contested variation hearing involving Mayfair’s “celebrity pub” (formerly owned by Madonna and Guy Ritchie)

  • Scotch of St James – successful late hours application for this iconic nightclub known as "the home of London’s Swinging Sixties"

  • Shannon Centre, Ilford - acted for licensing authority in summary review proceedings following triple shooting and samurai sword slashing at Essex nightclub

  • Essence, Kingston [2014] EWHC 4334 (Admin) &  [2016] EWCA Civ 63 (Court of Appeal) – acted for the successful local authority in the magistrates’ and High Court proceedings following a licence review

  • Funky Mojoe [2014] EWHC 344 (Admin) - successfully represented local authority in magistrates’ and High Court following review proceedings involving this well-known Essex nightclub. A leading authority on procedural defects in licensing

  • Disco – successful late hours application for Charles Gilkes and Duncan Sterling’s (Inception Group) new nightclub venture.

  • Club 65, Vauxhall Triangle – acted for the operator in successfully resisting a police application to revoke its licence following a widely reported fatality at the club

  • Upper West Nightclub, Chelsea – successfully resisted police application to revoke licence at summary review.

  • Veranda Bar, Brixton – acted for operators in successfully resisting police application to revoke their premises licence at summary review proceedings following an alleged gangland shooting

  • Whisky Mist, London nightclub - premises licence review

  • Amika, Kensington nightclub -  appeal of review

  • Gatecrasher, Birmingham - nightclub review

  • Oceana, Kingston upon Thames - nightclub summary review

  • Oceana, Watford - nightclub review and appeal

  • Powerhouse, acted for Newcastle nightclub in review and variation proceedings

  • Vendome, West End - series of reviews and summary reviews

  • Fridge Bar, Brixton - premises licence review and appeal

  • Area and Fire Nightclubs, Vauxhall Triangle, London - series of reviews

  • Opium Lounge, Romford - UK's first hearing of a summary/expedited review

  • The Phene, Chelsea - applications and successful defence of Licensing Act prosecutions involving "celebrity pub"

  • Aura, West End - nightclub review

  • Clerkenwell House, London - summary review

  • Cuckoo Club, West End - late hours application (as exception to Westminster's stress policy)

  • 79CXR, iconic West End gay bar - successfully defended premises licence review

  • Molton House, West End, private members club - premises licence review

  • Kabaret, West End, private members club - premises licence review

 

Sex Entertainment Venues

 

  • Spearmint Rhino, London - successfully obtained late hours extension for lap-dancing venue

  • Vanity Soho – acted for venue in summary review proceedings following allegations of drink spiking and credit card fraud.

  • Heaven Gentleman's Club, Newmarket - renewal of SEV in face of objections by the Town Council and Matt Hancock MP.

  • Scotch of St James, London - successfully renewed SEV licences in consecutive years

  • Liberte, Leeds - successful renewal of SEV licence in face of objection from Women's Equality Party and others

  • LA Confidential, London - acted for Ealing Council in successfully resisting appeal against revocation of SEV licence 

  • Platinum Lounge, Chester - acting for operator in heavily contested SEV renewal proceedings led by the Leader of the Council and the Bishop of Chester (among others). 

  • Piano Lounge, Twickenham - acted for controversial lap-dancing venue in a series of successful reviews, prosecutions and late-hours appeals

  • Parkers, London - acted for police in review proceedings

  • Charlies Bar, City of London - acted for police and local authority in review proceedings and criminal prosecution

  • Jermyn Club - successfully resisted application for new London SEV on behalf of St James' Conservation Trust

  • ST1, Stoke - represented Staffordshire Police in revoking the SEV licence and premises licence of Stoke's only remaining lap-dancing venue following allegations of extortion, prostitution and violence associated with the venue. 

 

 

Judicial Reviews and Other

 

 

Criminal, Regulatory & Inquests

 

  • R v Baldwins (2018)- secured acquittal of defendant charged with attempted murder of two police officers by shooting in a case of mistaken identity

  • Rother DC v Saunders (2018) - secured conviction of defendant in prosecution for massive commerical dumping operation in Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

  • Kingston Pool Bar (2016) - prosecuted operators of an illegal poker casino for offences under the Gambling Act 2005 and money laundering provisions.

  • Camber Sands Drowning Inquests – acting for the local authority following the well-publicised drowning of 7 individuals in the Summer of 2016

  • Baby Amitai Moshe Inquest – on the death of a child following a ritual circumcision

  • London Borough of Richmond v Johnson - acted for council in landmark prosecution involving demolition of a house within a conservation area - Kingston Crown Court (Daily Mail 1.8.11)

  • R v Fletcher, Bradford Crown Court [2009] - alleged gangland conspiracy to murder - client acquitted on all charges

  • R v Lincoln Crawford, Blackfriars Crown Court, Telegraph, 22.7.08: defence of barrister and Recorder of the Crown Court for breaching a restraining order.

  • R v Gil Magira [2008] EWCA Crim 1939, The Times, The Mirror 1.3.08: defence of husband accused of clandestinely administering abortion drugs to his pregnant wife.

  • R v Foster & ors [2007] EWCA Crim 2869, The Times, 10.12.07: Court of Appeal - murder - alternative verdicts

  • R v Mendel Rand - [2007] EWCA Crim 840, Daily Mail 30.3.07: Court of Appeal - obtained release of 76 year old Holocaust survivor from prison sentence for money laundering as an "exceptional act of mercy"

  • R v Rimmington & Goldstein [2006] 1 AC 459, [2005] UKHL 63: Post-9/11 Anthrax Hoaxer acquitted on appeal to the House of Lords - public nuisance - common law offences - Human Rights Act - retroactive offences - freedom of expression & privacy of correspondence - mens rea. Client acquitted on appeal.

  • United States of America v H [2005-6, advisory]: major US banking fraud involving director of leading investment bank/ extradition to USA

  • R v Ramzan, Israel & Ors [2007] Crim.L.R. 79,[2006] EWCA Crim 1974: Court of Appeal - conspiracy to money launder - mens rea - reopening old convictions following change of law.

  • "Paddington Prostitutes ASBOS" (Daily Mail, Evening Standard, 22.11.06) - acted for Westminster Council in obtaining ground-breaking civil ASBOS against prolific prostitutes.

  • Duffy v R [2005]: Privy Council appeal from Isle of Man Court of Appeal - death by dangerous driving - careless driving (advisory)

  • East Herts DC v Bishop's Stortford Football Club et al [2005, St Albans Crown Court] - breach of planning enforcement notices - park & ride operation to Stansted Airport - anti-competitive planning policies - European Union Law

  • R v Lehman, The Times, 7 Jan 2005: Israeli with loaded gun in Heathrow Airport. Client acquitted.

  • Birmingham City Council v Chiltern London Ltd [2005]: "FCUK" & "Louis Vuitton" major trade marks prosecution

  • R v Roberts, The Guardian, Mar 2005: defence of teacher at Jews Free School acquitted of sexually assaulting student

  • London Borough of Newham v Estates & Lets Ltd [2004]: corporate criminal liability under Protection from Eviction Act 1977 - abuse of process - local authorities' prosecuting guidelines. Client acquitted.

  • R v Mansoor, Central Criminal Court, The Times, 18 Aug 2004: Stamford Hill Orthodox Jewish Murder

  • R v Horner and others [2004]: corporate manslaughter - death by dangerous driving - mechanical defect. Client acquitted.

  • London Borough of Camden v JT Publishing Ltd [2004]: criminal liability of West End theatre promoter under Town and Country Planning Act 1990. Client acquitted.

  • R v Israel [2003] 2 Cr. App. R. (S.) 79: Court of Appeal - money laundering - sentencing

  • R v Mazar, The Times, 4 Dec 2002 - "King-Pin Fraudster" - multi-million dollar international credit card fraud

  • R v Graham [2002]: "Peterborough Sex Beast" - serial rape - attempted murder

  • R v Johnson [2002] 1 Archbold News 1, Archbold 2006 para 4-348: Court of Appeal - criminal evidence - defence statements - reopening of prosecution case

  • R v Jeanette Morris, Daily Telegraph, 21 Dec 2001: "RAF Cadets Death Coach" - death by dangerous driving

  • R v Sylvana Nottingham, [1999] News of the World: "Nurse's Lifer Lover" - pregnant prison nurse aided and abetted escape of her lover who was serving life for manslaughter. Obtained suspended sentence.

  • R v Zafar [2000]: "Internet Domain Name Blackmail" - prosecuted first UK case of corporate blackmail via computer hacking. 

  • HSE v Behrouzi - Health and Safety - supermarket owner - razor blades in food

 

 

 

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