Outer Temple barrister puts three away for tax fraud

Outer Temple Chambers barrister Robert-Jan Temmink has secured three convictions for the Serious Fraud Office after a trial that demonstrated a jury's ability to understand complicated fraud cases.

The case saw three individuals convicted of siphoning more than £1m of funds from an environmental tax credit scheme, with each defendant accused of more than one count.

The convictions come just months after the legal profession slammed government proposals to scrap juries in fraud trials. The jury in this case listened to six months of argument before deliberating for 68 hours to reach its verdict.

Businessmen Stephen Sampson, William Hurley and Andrew Watts were convicted of treating funds paid through the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme by environmental body Environmental Preservation Initiatives (EPI) as their own. Sampson and Watts were each sentenced to two and a half years in prison; Hurley was sentenced to three years.

Accountant Salvatore Solazzo was acquitted.

Sampson was represented by David Phillips & Partners and Charter Chambers' Alan Newman QC. Cooper Kenyon Burrows Solicitors, instructing Guy Gozem QC of Manchester set Lincoln House Chambers, acted for Hurley. Charter Chambers head Stephen Solley QC, instructed by Lewis Nedas & Co, represented Watts, while TNT Solicitors instructed 9 Bedford Row's Abbas Lakha QC for Solazzo.