Shiraz Rustom, instructed by John Molleskog of GT Stewart Solicitors, represented a defendant at the Old Bailey who was alleged to have participated in an armed robbery involving the theft of high-value watches and jewellery.
The Crown’s case was that three men carried out a coordinated armed robbery targeting luxury items. The defence argued that the incident was not a robbery but formed part of a fraudulent enterprise in which the complainant was implicated.
Through careful, structured cross-examination, the defence exposed concerns surrounding the reliability of the complainant’s account and the involvement of a now-deceased Hatton Garden jeweller.
The matter concluded following an abuse of process argument made during trial, which brought the proceedings to an end.
This case underscores the decisive importance of early and sustained engagement with disclosure in serious organised crime allegations. It further demonstrates the strategic value of combining forensic analysis of unused material with targeted cross-examination to test the integrity of the Prosecution case at its foundation.
