Overview
Benjamin Myers KC specializes in business & financial crime, general crime, regulatory law, and professional discipline. He appears in courts and tribunals across the country and is ranked as a leading Silk in the fields of financial crime and crime in both Chambers UK and the Legal 500.
Ben acts for individuals and organizations facing prosecution by the CPS, SFO, OFT and other agencies and is experienced in leading large teams in substantial, complex, and sensitive cases, many of which are high-profile in nature.
Ben has been shortlisted as the Criminal and Extradition Silk of the Year in the Legal 500 Awards 2024.
What others say:
“Ben is exceptionally hardworking and time and time again masters the most serious and complex technical information. In terms of advocacy, Ben is a true heavyweight of the Bar and with good reason, as he is able to bear the immense pressure of some of the most daunting and distressing cases brought before the courts with unwavering professionalism and integrity.”
The Legal 500 2024
“He is astonishingly hard-working and on top of the detail.”
Chambers and Partners 2024
“Ben is a premier league silk who has prosecuted and defended many of the gravest criminal cases to come before the English courts. He has an exceptional eye for detail and pursues his client’s case with vigour and integrity. He has an outstanding ability to explain complex legal and factual matters with seemingly effortless simplicity to judges and juries alike.”
The Legal 500 2023
“Benjamin is very professional and conscientious and fights hard for his clients.”, “He is absolutely excellent.”, “He is extremely intelligent and excellent in court.”
Chambers and Partners 2023
Current instructions include an individual facing trial in Operation Larkshot, a £260 million money laundering investigation, and advisory work in relation to the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
Recent cases include:
- Operation Lunar – HMRC investigation into £330 million tax fraud;
- Operation Circus – £25 million fraud and money laundering scheme built around ‘bullet trades’ and Ponzi scheme;
- R v Lucy Letby – neonatal nurse charged with multiple offences of murder and attempted murder;
- R v CC and Others – £160 million finance fraud and corruption allegation prosecuted by SFO;
- R v David Duckenfield – police match commander at the Hillsborough Stadium tragedy tried for gross negligence manslaughter;
- Operation Uzana [Barton and Others] – complex probate and accounting fraud and the leading Court of Appeal authority defining the test for dishonesty in English criminal law
Cases
FRAUD, BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL CRIME
Cases have included:
R vTR [Operation Lunar]: £330 million tax fraud based upon claims arising out of film and pharma investment schemes.
R v JC [Operation Circus]: £25 million fraud and money laundering scheme built around ‘bullet trades’ and Ponzi scheme.
R v CC: £160 million banking fraud. Prosecution brought by Serious Fraud Office.
R v MF: Multimillion-pound corporate banking fraud.
R v DB [Operation Uzana]: Historic financial abuse of residents of care home in excess of £10 million. Issues relating to banking, probate, accounting and fraudulent financial instruments.
R v CP: [Operation Bamburgh] Multimillion-pound mortgage fraud.
R v TL: £21 million pyramid fraud. Flagship prosecution by the Office of Fair Trading under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.
R v NK: £40 million pound money laundering by businessman using via international money- transfers. Associated confiscation proceedings of £40 million.
MURDER AND MANSLAUGHTER
Cases have included:
R v LL: Neonatal nurse tried for multiple murders and multiple attempted murders. Extensive and complex medical evidence requiring cross-examination of expert witnesses across multiple specialisms in neonatal medicine and neonatal nursing
R v DD: Senior police officer tried for gross negligence manslaughter in relation to the 96 deaths at the FA Cup Semi-Final at Hillsborough Stadium in 1989.
R v AP and Others: Multiple conspiracies to murder in the course of gang war, involving IT to perform tracking and surveillance of targets, and carefully planned attacks with firearms and machetes.
R v RH and Others: Multiple shootings culminating in the shooting of unarmed police officers.
R v M: Multiple murder of family members by suffocation and poisoning. Complex medical forensic evidence requiring cross-examination of eminent experts across multiple specialisms including paediatrics, paediatric pathology, neuropathology, cardiology, immunology, histopathology, radiography, paediatric surgery, toxicology, pharmacology and genetics.
R v SS: Paranoid schizophrenic tried for murder of his partner and two children. Complex psychiatric issues in relation to the law of diminished responsibility.
R v SW: Young woman in abusive and controlling relationship charged with murder of partner after argument.
R v AK: ‘Honour killing’ by professional hit-man.
SEXUAL OFFENCES
Cases have included:
R v MN: International trafficking, prostitution and rape of multiple victims by international crime ring. Largest operation of its type at time of prosecution.
R v JH: Multiple-rape of 3-year old daughter by father. Broadcast of associated images over the internet to paedophile ring.
R v ML: Alleged historic rape of music student by teacher.
Rv AK: Violent rape of a student by a defendant suffering serious psychiatric abnormalities, raising complex psychiatric and neuropsychiatric issues.
DRUGS
Cases have included:
R v MP and Others: £500 million international conspiracy to import class A drugs.
R v CI: Multimillion-pound importation of class A drugs combined with money laundering operation. Use of road haulage systems to import drugs into the UK.
R v AM: Bulk supply of cutting agent on industrial scale. Complex legal issues relating to provisions of Serious Crime Act 2007.
FURTHER OFFENCES
R v AD: Coercive control of female partner in commission of probate fraud. Complex psychiatric and psychological issues and expert analysis of coercive control.
R v P: Misconduct in public office. Abuse of police data systems by serving police officers.
R v W: Conspiracy to possess firearms and use explosives. Use of this weaponry in excess of 20 attacks on city streets.
R v P and others: Importation of illegal firearms into UK from overseas. These included handguns, silencers and ammunition concealed in a motor vehicle and brought into the UK from Eastern Europe. Largest post-war importation of its type at time of prosecution.
R v IM: Explosive substances sent through the postal system. Detailed scientific forensic issues relating to explosives and DNA.
R v MG: Judicial review relating to search warrants and special procedure material.
R v RB: Death by dangerous driving. Technical issues relating to the law and science of alcohol analysis.
REPORTED CASES
R v Stewart and Others [2022] EWCA Crim 1063: the imposition of whole life orders when a mandatory life sentence is passed
R v Barton (David) 2020 2 Cr App R 7: the test for dishonesty in English criminal law, the constituent elements of conspiracy to defraud and the common law approach to precedent
Unsworth v DPP [2010] EWHC 3037 (Admin): Case stated regarding the parameters of lawful excuse as a defence to criminal damage under section 5(2) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971.
Benson, R (on the application of ) v Secretary of State for Justice [2007] EWHC Admin 2055: Impact of Article 5 and common law due process when considering alleged breach of home detention curfew.
R v Rashford [2005] EWCA Crim 3377: Murder; extension of circumstances encompassing self-defence.
R v Bevan [1999] EWCA Crim 2172: Where disparity in sentence is objectionable.
