Leila Gaskin overturns conviction in the Court of Appeal on the basis of Judicial Bias.

Further to the article published on Monday about Leila Gaskin and Ben Rowe successfully defending a London businessman accused of a serious fraud conspiracy, the circumstances of this retrial and original conviction can now be reported.

In 2022, Leila’s client faced a trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court alongside four others for conspiracy to commit fraud, and conspiracy to conceal criminal property.

Leila’s client was convicted in the original, but this conviction was appealed on the basis that the conviction was not safe due to the unfair behaviour of the trial Judge.

On 23 June 2023, Leila appeared in the Court of Appeal before Lady Justice Macur DBE, Mr Justice Morris, and HHJ Angela Morris. On 11 July 2023 the Court handed down their judgment and confirmed that Leila’s clients conviction should be overturned.

The Court ordered that the trial be moved from Snaresbrook to Southwark and that Leila’s client be retried, alongside two of the other original defendants.

As reported on Monday, following this retrial, Leila’s client was acquitted. The offences were alleged to have occurred over a decade ago so this was a hard and long fought struggle for Leila and her instructing solicitor Steven Bird.

The full judgment, including examples of the trial Judge’s behaviour, can be found HERE.