David Cook

David is a Solicitor Advocate in the Regulatory team at Pannone and specialises in white collar offences and cyber crime.  He joined law from a science background, having initially obtained a degree in chemistry.  This experience provides him with a different skill-set to others and means that David is very astute when considering the technical aspects of a case as well as being a personable lawyer.

David has extensive experience across a broad range of offences but in particular specialises in cases of a complex nature.  He has a particular interest in crimes that are committed using computers or through the internet. David is widely regarded as an expert in this area and regularly appears in the national and local media.

David is able to quickly distil the facts of a case to the crucial elements and to focus his attention in the most efficient manner in order to achieve the best result for the client.

Best career moments: As a trainee I represented a juvenile charged with offences of conspiring to cause explosions with intent to endanger life and conspiracy to murder his school friends.  The concerns I voiced about what appeared an ill-founded investigation were realised when a jury took just 45 minutes to acquit him and Queen's Counsel subsequently criticised the CPS for bringing the case at all.

My second highlight was being involved in the first prosecution in the UK arising out of criminal copyright allegations for music file-sharing on the internet.  As a result of my abuse of process application, the CPS chose to discontinue the matter prior to responding in court. Following that case, I was then instructed in the second prosecution of this nature, discontinued after I again served an abuse of process application.

Notable cases include:

Cyber crime

OiNK – Instructed by a juvenile charged with a criminal copyright offence carrying a maximum custodial sentence of ten years imprisonment. This was the first prosecution in the UK arising out of breaches of copyright due to distribution of material over the internet by way of BitTorrent.  Because of technical arguments submitted, the CPS discontinued the matter.

FileSoup – On the back of the OiNK success, instructed in the second prosecution of this nature in the UK. The Defendant was alleged to have conspired to defraud the music and film industry by distributing material by way of BitTorrent. Technical arguments were submitted and, again, the CPS chose to discontinue the matter.

R –v- TK – Juvenile charged with harassment offences arising out of messages left on Facebook. The matter was discontinued against the client following the service of evidence from a medical expert we secured.

Fraud Operation

Compost - Instructed as led junior counsel in this multimillion pound red diesel fraud involving the laundering and onward distribution of rebated fuel. The Defendant pleaded guilty and a suspended sentence was obtained.

Operation Digits – Represented a defendant in a large VAT fraud concerning the construction industry. The Defendant was acquited after Trial.

Operation Euripus – Represented a Defendant in this MTIC (carousel) fraud which HMRC described as “one of the UK’s largest ever conspiracies”. The Defendant was found guilty but the confiscation of his assets was greatly reduced from that which HMRC originally sought.