Charlotte Hole

Practice Profile

Charlotte practises exclusively in criminal law, prosecuting and defending in serious and complex cases involving violence, drugs, and fraud.

She has developed expertise in the prosecution of serious organised crime with an international element, including cases prosecuted by a Joint Investigation Team through Eurojust, with a focus on the management of complex disclosure and development of strategies for dealing with digital material.  She has delivered training on the admissibility of overseas intercept material, and “Prosecuting International Organised Crime – Pitfalls & Protocols in Disclosure”.

Charlotte has a particular interest in the scientific aspects of criminal investigation, having obtained a Diploma in Forensic Medical Sciences in 2019.

Defending, she has represented vulnerable individuals and those with mental health difficulties, and conducted cases involving child witnesses, with experience of conducting pre-recorded cross-examination under s.28 YJCEA and the use of intermediaries.

She quickly earns the trust of vulnerable clients and scared or reluctant witnesses, as well as the confidence of instructing lawyers and police officers, including those from other jurisdictions.

Current instructions include homicide, people-trafficking, and politically-motivated violent disorder.

Charlotte's Privacy Policy can be downloaded here.

Memberships

• The Criminal Bar Association
• The South Eastern Circuit

Appointments

• CPS Advocate Panel for General Crime at Grade 3
• CPS Specialist Panel - Fraud Level 2
• CPS Specialist Panel - Serious Crime Level 3

Education

• Diploma in Forensic Medical Sciences (forensic medicine, forensic science, and the law as applicable to the forensic sciences), Worshipful Society of Apothecaries (2019).  Dissertation: “The medico-legal investigation of the death of persons deprived of their liberty by the state”.
• Bar Vocational Course, City University (2009); British Academy of Forensic Sciences Prize
• Graduate Diploma in Law (2007)
• BA Literae Humaniores, University of Oxford (2004, MA (Oxon) 2009)

News

• R v CU & others [Kingston] 2020

  Commercial Burglary

  Prosecution of twelve defendants in relation to a string of high value commercial burglaries involving the theft of rare and precious books.  Led by Catherine Farrelly. 

  News reports:

  https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/sep/18/rare-books-stolen-london-heist-found-floor-romania

  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/09/18/rare-books-stolen-romanian-gang-recovered-joint-uk-eu-police/

  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8747023/2-5million-trove-books-stolen-London-warehouse-Romania.html

  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-54209366

• R v CU & Ors [Kingston] 2020

  The Feltham Book Heist

  Leading Charlotte Hole. The prosecution of 12 defendants for a number of high-value commercial burglaries, including the theft of rare books by Isaac Newton & Francisco Goya. The prosecution arose out of a JIT (Joint Investigation Team) with Romanian and Italian law enforcement and concerned legal issues in relation to the admissibility of extraterritorial evidence and the presentation of a significant amount of telephone and cell-site evidence. The case attracted considerable interest in the national and international press.

  https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/dec/13/tome-raiders-solving-the-great-book-heist

  https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/heist-isaac-newton-galileo-romania-clamparu-b748240.html

• R v PS & MO [Woolwich] 2020

  Confiscation following conviction for conspiracy to supply drugs

  £384k confiscated from drug dealers following convictions for conspiracy to supply drugs with a street value of over £10m, after 951kg of cannabis was found in a lorry load of rabbit hay.  Junior alone.  (R v Seabrook & ors [Woolwich] 2018)

• R v LV [Guildford] 2019

  Armed Robbery

  Prosecution of an armed robbery of a Post Office by a defendant armed with a handgun.  Junior alone. 

  News report:

  https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/robber-brandishing-handgun-who-burst-16308125

• R v H [Maidstone] 2019

  Assault

  Defence of a man with paranoid schizophrenia who attempted to stab a police officer whilst intoxicated and during an acute psychotic episode.  Junior alone.

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