Nicholas Mather

Year of Call: 1998

Specialist practice areas: Serious Crime, Criminal/Civil Fraud, Regulation/Compliance, Asset Forfeiture, Health & Safety, Police Disciplinary, Inquests & Public Inquiries

Nick Mather has a practice which focuses on serious crime and the interface between civil and criminal law, with a particular focus on police investigatory powers, the proceeds of crime and regulation and compliance.

Serious Crime

Nick has considerable experience in all areas of serious crime as a junior and leading junior. His areas of focus include fraud and white collar crime, including NHS fraud and passport fraud, large-scale drugs offences, asset forfeiture and confiscation hearings, sexual offences, including historic child abuse, child pornography, rape and kidnap, firearms, violent crime, homicide, and public order offences. Nick defends and prosecutes in cases involving the RSPCA, DEFRA, RCPO, SOCA and the SFO.

Nick's highlights have included appearing in the first conviction for GBH by reckless infection with HIV, as well as cases arising out of Operation Manzana, involving child prostitution and the supply of drugs, and prosecutions resulting from Operation Aciento, which concerned the large-scale supply of class A drugs and firearms in West End nightclubs. His fraud caseload has taken in a recent hi-tech cash machine fraud, a large-volume passport fraud, an NHS fraud, and money laundering.  He has experience in managing substantial volumes of evidence and disclosure and led the prosecution team in cases arising out of the May Day Riots in Central London in 2001, 2002 and 2003.

Civil / Criminal Practice, Proceeds of Crime

Nick is regularly instructed in cases which involve a combination of civil and criminal law: advising and appearing at first instance and on appeal in courts as diverse as the Chancery and Family Divisions of the High Court, the Administrative Court as well as the Crown and Magistrates' Court. Recent cases have involved civil freezing orders, the interaction between the Proceeds of Crime Act and the law of foreign jurisdictions, and interventions on behalf of the Crown in ancillary relief cases. Nick has a particular interest in cases involving the use or misuse of executive power, and particularly cases involving powers under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, Proceeds of Crime Act, Terrorism Act and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.

Nick is experienced at representing interested parties at inquests in the Coroner's Court - whether families, insurers, companies or public authorities and is sensitive to the particular demands of such cases. He has a particular interest in cases which involve breaches of public duties, statutory requirements (for example health and safety, police powers), whether involving the police or other public or quasi-public authorities.

 A particular area of expertise is handling cases involving sensitive public interest immunity and complex third party disclosure issues, such as informant evidence, covert surveillance and the interception of communications (including information acquired by the SOCA, Special Branch, Social Services, the IPCC and other agencies). His flare for handling situations requiring both technical excellence and discretion has also given him a growing reputation for matters involving sensitive media or political issues, including those with "celebrities" or serving police officers as defendants.

Regulation and Compliance

Nick has a specialist gambling practice and advises and appears in cases involving a gambling element, particularly in relation to gaming and sports betting.  He has been involved in the majority of recent criminal prosecutions involving gambling fraud, and also acts in relation to licensing and regulatory matters. He lectures regularly in this field.

Nick undertakes health and safety, consumer protection and medicines regulatory work, and is regularly instructed to advise in both contentious and non-contentious cases.

He is a member of the South Eastern Circuit, the Criminal Bar Association and the Racehorse Owners Association.