Breaking News: R v Vian & Others - Case Dropped

Bark & Co has been instructed by Glenn Vian since the mid-2008.  Not guilty verdicts were entered against Mr Vian and the other defendants, following complex and fiercely fought challenges to the Crown’s case during protracted pre-trial legal argument.  The initial investigation into the murder of Daniel Morgan in 1987 was deeply flawed, and many compelling leads were not pursued properly or, in some cases, at all.  The level of public resources expended in this most recent investigation is simply breathtaking.  The Police bought the house next door to Mr Vian, in order to conduct thousands of hours of intrusive covert surveillance upon him and his family.  They released false stories to the press in an effort to trigger incriminating conversations.  When these efforts failed to produce any cogent evidence, a case was built against these defendants using “supergrass” witnesses, and considerably flawed Serious Organised Crime & Police Act (SOCPA) agreements.  It will come as no surprise to right thinking people to learn that those of the worst character, facing many years in custody for crimes including drug trafficking and attempted murder, will say anything in order to secure a massive reduction in their sentence and/or substantial financial benefits.   The position is very much worse where, as in this case, a SOCPA witness is told in advance what the case theory is, and simply has to repeat it to gain his reward.  The defence has, in the course of pre-trial legal arguments, been able to discredit the Crown’s case so that, one by one, the evidence of these witnesses has been excluded by the trial Judge or abandoned by the Crown.  The recent legal arguments which preceded the collapse of the case were led by our defence team, based on a document found in the unused material by a solicitor of this firm.

When entering not guilty verdicts, the trial Judge said:-

“the legal representatives for all of the defendants, faced with a mammoth and most difficult task, have responded magnificently to it.  And the quality of the written and oral submissions that I have received has, taken overall, been of the highest quality.  The industry and the tenacity which has been shown by the defence teams is to be commended and the defendants will leave court knowing, if they did not know before, though I think they must have known before, that they have been very well served”.

 Our client comments:

"My name is Glenn Vian. I have recently been acquitted of murder at the C.C.C. I have been very lucky as I was represented by the best team of solicitors you could possibly find Bark & Co.
 
I cannot say enough about this firm, other than look nowhere else. They are the best. Their investigation team were brilliant.  Thanks to Eamon Harris and Fred Bunn.
 
All of these Solicitors are top drawer: Giles Bark-Jones, Jenny Boyden etc. Giles has no problem obtaining the best QCs because of Bark's reputation and the team behind them. I was again fortunate to get the best QC's David Whitehouse QC and Ed Gritt QC, absolutely brilliant men.
 
Which brings me to my solicitor Alison Hill, her brilliant legal mind and determination to uncover and get the truth goes above and beyond. So a very special thanks to Alison Hill and Eamon Harris for giving me back the rest of my life. God bless you all at Bark & Co
 
Glenn Vian"