Christopher Kerr
Christopher has over 30 years of experience of appearing in the criminal courts at all levels. He has acted as leading counsel, for both the defence and the prosecution, in numerous serious criminal trials, and has extensive experience of appellate advocacy. He is qualified for direct access.
He also has over 10 years experience of revenue litigation in the Tax Tribunal and the Court of Appeal, and has appeared as leading counsel in numerous multimillion pound tax appeals.
Cases
Serious Crime
R v Crabtree & Crabtree – Murder.
R v Hammond – A series of serious sexual offences against vulnerable women in the Norwich area.
Operation Onston – 5 handed kidnapping case, involving torture.
R v W & O – Murder – both defendants were children.
R v Wright – Described by the trial judge as one of the worst cases of child abuse ever to come before the criminal courts in England and Wales.
R v Komolafe & Ors – International money laundering conspiracy.
R v Dale & ors – Attempted murder.
R v O’Neil & Ors – Advance fee fraud in the luxury car industry.
R v Boyd & Ors – 2018 EWCA Crim 693 Armed robbery.
R v Nasser & Ors – Conspiracy to defraud.
R v Palmer – Fraudulent trading in the motor vehicle industry.
R v Abbas [2017] EWCA Crim 2015. Kidnapping.
Operation Dante – International drugs smuggling conspiracy.
Operation Sediment – Conspiracy to import counterfeit cigarettes from China.
R v Ghadiri – Conspiracy to defraud the Revenue and the Charities Commission.
Operation Frost – Kidnapping conspiracy.
R v Higley & Ors – Drugs and money laundering conspiracy.
A & Ors – Marine insurance fraud.
R v Holland & Ors – Contract kidnapping with firearms.
Regulatory Law
R v RP – Fraudulent trading in the motor vehicle industry.
Beckwill Builders – Fraudulent trading in the building industry.
Operation Neptune – Fraudulent trading in the bottled water industry.
Operation Magnet – multi-million pound housing benefit fraud.
R v Enviro-Waste – Triple fatality in the farming industry.
R v Gibson & W – Loss adjusting fraud.
High profile health and safety prosecutions of major companies, such as John Mowlem, Bison Structures, Balfour Beatty, Ipswich Docks, Carillion, and the Thames Tunnels Project.
MTIC Fraud/Tax Appeals
CCA Distribution Limited v HMRC [2019]; [2017] EWCA Civ 1899.
Vale Europe v HMRC [2018] UKFTT 662 (TC)
Synectiv v HMRC [2018] UKFTT 92 (TC); [2013] UKFTT 677 (TC)
Fairford Group PLC v HMRC [2015]
Direct Communications Limited v HMRC [2015]
Intekx Limited v HMRC [2014] UKFTT 277 (TC)
Foneshops Limited v HMRC – £20 million MTIC fraud in the First Tier Tax Tribunal.
Softhouse Consulting Limited v HMRC – STI 748.
Global Enterprises v HMRC [2013] UKFTT 014 (TC) Harwich GSM Limited v HMRC [2012] UKFTT 279.
HT Purser Limited v HMRC [2011] UKFTT 860 (TC)
Annova Limited v HMRC [2011] UKFTT 742 (TC); [2014 UKUT 28 (TCC).
Flashpoint Technology Limited v HMRC [2011] UKFTT 353 (TC)
Professional Memberships
- Criminal Bar Association
- South-Eastern Circuit
Awards, Qualifications & Other
- MA. (Oxon)
- CPS Panel, Grade 4
- CPS Specialist RASSO Panel
- CPS Specialist Fraud Panel, Level 4
Publications
- Fiction: A Conspiracy of Serpents [Austin Macauley 2022] (Available in bookshops and online in paperback and ebook)
- Non-fiction: Jane Austen at 250: Her Art, Life and Times [Amazon 2024]. (Available at Amazon in hardback, paperback and ebook).
Languages
- French
- German
- Polish
Direct Access
Christopher Kerr is qualified to accept instructions directly from clients and is registered under the Bar Council’s Public Access Scheme, meaning that members of the public who seek specialist advice can come directly to him. In addition, he welcomes instructions from solicitors, in-house law departments, qualified foreign lawyers, and clients licensed by the Bar Council to give instructions directly to barristers under the Bar Council’s Licensed Access Scheme. For more information please visit our Direct Access page here.