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Stephen Vullo QC has a significant criminal defence practice that runs alongside his advisory work in the field of cyber security and other related business issues. Frequently instructed at an early stage to give tactical advice. For example he has advised a large Internet Service Provider in relation to resisting a request by the United States Government for the IP addresses of customers said, following an F.B.I. investigation, to have connections to terrorism and fraud. The request was eventually withdrawn.
A well known international security company sought his advice to ensure that proposed ‘sting operations’ to root out fraud and breach of trust were constructed in such a way as to maximise the potential for the evidence obtained to be admissible in the UK courts. A large London brokerage firm asked for his tactical assistance in terms of a conflict that they had with an international merchant bank in respect of compliance and potential insider trading.
He is now advising numerous companies and other organisations in respect of the upcoming implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and is working in close association with a well-known Cyber Security firm providing a full health check service.
Criminal Defence Practice – Stephen Vullo QC has been instructed to defend in many of the most high profile criminal cases in this jurisdiction in recent years. His previous clients include;
He has defended in dozens of homicide, fraud, rape/sexual offences and drug importation cases and has regularly appeared in the Court of Appeal Criminal Division. In terms of homicide he has a wealth of experience in dealing with cases of murder and manslaughter, including gross negligence manslaughter, that involve complex expert evidence and issues of law.
He acted in the case that changed the law relating to the application of Article 6 Rights during the extradition process in an appeal to the Supreme Court, Halligen and others [2012] UKSC 20.
Mr Vullo is regularly asked to review cases of those who have been convicted to assess whether he can identify grounds of appeal. One notable example is the case of Dennis Patrick Richard Slade, Michael Nicholas Baxter, Richard Andrew Pearman v Crown [2015] EWCA Crim 71. Mr Vullo acted for Slade who along with his co-defendants had been convicted of conspiracy to murder and other related offences in 2009. He first asked for Mr Vullo’s assistance in 2012. After an appeals process that lasted three years the convictions of Slade and all his co-defendants were overturned and a retrial ordered.
The retrial of Slade was heard in late 2015 with Mr Vullo representing him. Following disclosure requests made by the defence the Crown were compelled to offer no evidence which led the trial judge Mr Justice Globe to invite the Attorney General to investigate whether there were failings on the prosecution side during the first trial. This matter continues with a judicial review and further appeal in respect of other matters pending.
Stephen Vullo QC is frequently instructed in high profile celebrity cases and is frequently retained where historical allegations of sexual abuse are being made. He has acted in more than one Operation Yewtree case.
He represented Dave Lee Travis in both his first trial and retrial. Following that case he was asked to take over the representation of Rolf Harris who had previously been convicted on 12 counts of indecent assault in 2014. Stephen Vullo QC defended Mr Harris in two further trials which resulted in not guilty verdicts being entered in relation to each allegation and has recently overturned one conviction from the first trial in the Court of Appeal.
Nominated Legal 500 Criminal Silk of the Year 2017
Member of 2 Bedford Row’s Criminal and Cyber Security Team’s
“He has the mind of a chess player, the guts of a boxer and his good nature with clients is second to non.” Legal 500 2018