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Member Profile
Charles Conway
Year of call: 1969
Education:
St Olave's Grammar School
Cambridge - B.A. (Cantab), M.A. (Cantab), L.L.B. (Cantab)
Charles Conway has an exclusively criminal defence practice that consists mostly of leading junior work.
As a junior he has been led in many high profile cases including the Russell Bishop "Babes in the Wood" murder, the Jason Swift paedophile killing, the Brinks Matt £26 million Gold Bullion robbery, for Freddie Foreman in the £6 million Security Express robbery and for Kenny Noye in the road rage murder.
For the last 20 years he has had a largely Leading Junior practice in a diversity of heavy criminal cases ranging from murders to fraud, drug importations to money laundering. He has also held leading junior briefs in many diversion fraud cases including the Hare Wines fraud where he acted for a major Defendant (Windsor).
He represented all five Stephen Lawrence suspects in the Divisional Court and three of them in the McPherson Public Inquiry. He appeared as Junior Counsel for one of them at the Old Bailey.
He also has a substantial private practice and his clients have included Ray Winstone and Max Beesley.
In more recent times he has held leading junior briefs in long, complex, high profile drug, fraud and robbery cases many of which are said to have been amongst the largest of their kind ever brought e.g. the £53 million Tonbridge Securities robbery.
Occasional contributor to TV news programmes. Some of his most recent cases are set out below.
Cases
Drugs | |
| R v Dos Santos | Acted for Colombian pilot allegedly recruited to fly large quantities of cocaine to the UK. A cut-throat defence succeeded after a 2 month trial. Date : 2009 |
| R v McGonnell | Leading Junior in a complex conspiracy to import £3 million of cigarettes. Acted for a lorry driver who was acquitted after a 5 month trial. Date : 2006 |
| R v Whitehead | Represented alleged organiser responsible for the distrubution of 4 tons of cannabis. Date : 2010 |
| R v Daniel Browne | Currently holds the leading Junior brief in the third retrial of a multi-importation class A drugs involving 57 kilos of heroin. Date : 2012 |
| R v Freddie Ross Johnson | Currently retained as leading Junior representing an alleged major player in what was stated to have been the largest cannabis farm prosecution involving £125 million worth of cultivated cannabis. Date : 2012 |
Miscellaneous Crime | |
| R v Musa Hurman | Acted for a Turkish assistant to a high profile Chinese organiser in a complex people smuggling case. 2 month trial. Date : 2009 |
| R v Griffiths | Held the leading Junior brief in a high profile gangland murder. The Defendant was charged with providing the murderer Percival with a false alibi. She was acquitted after a 3 month trial. Date : 2007 |
| R v Goci | Held the leading Junior brief in a contested murder trial. Date : 2008 |
| R v Bucpapa | Held the leading Junior brief for a principle Defendant in the UK's biggest ever cash robbery - £53 million Tonbridge Security robbery. Date : 2008 |
Fraud | |
| R v Shelley English | Acted for principle defendant in a month-long time share fraud. Date : 2010 |
| R v David Harris | Represented a chartered accountant charged with aiding the theft of £650,000 from a well-known West End restaurant and assisting a dequalified director in managing it. Acquitted after a month's trial. Date : 2010 |
| R v Conroy | Leading Junior brief for the English organiser of an international alleged £18 million excise and VAT fraud involving the setting up and running of illicit counterfeit alcohol and tobacco factories. Date : 2010 |
| R v Ian Gillespie | Acted for a chartered accountant in an international conspiracy to import and distrubute counterfeit medicines. Said to have been the largest conspiracy of its kind ever to have been brought. Acquitted after a 4 month trial. Date : 2011 |
