Antony has vast experience is criminal trials and also in a number of judicial review cases arising out of criminal proceedings. He is a Grade 3 CPS external advocate.
These are some of the cases in which Antony has prosecuted or defended:
R v X secured acquittal of a senior businessperson facing personally ruinous charges of assaulting their own children.
Operation Snake – organised crime based burglaries across five counties.
R v R and T county lines drug supply
Operation Pecan – organised thefts across England of highly endangered birds.
R v S and others – theft and fraud of £2 million.
R v M and others – MOD corruption and bribery case following investigation by MOD Police and reporting directly to the Attorney General’s office on developments and decisions in the case.
R v A and others – 11-handed “crash for cash” insurance fraud case.
R v B and others – 3-handed fraud by national criminal group arranging for driving tests to be taken by imposters generating six-digit criminal profits.
R v AS – six-digit figure money laundering case of funds between England and Africa and with victims in Canada, Scandinavia, Middle East, Africa.
R v NW – fraudulent furniture business with several dozen victims throughout UK and Republic of Ireland.
R v D – fraudulent car leasing company.
R v H & L – organised professional burglaries.
R v P – attempted murder (frenzied stabbing).
His judicial cases include:
Visvaratnam v Brent Magistrates’ Court (2010) 174 JP 61, Successful judicial review following adjournment and prosecution failure to warn key witness.
Nicola v Enfield Youth Court [2008] All ER (D) 94. Successful judicial review of delay of trial for young defendant. Also, a precedent for costs against the CPS rather than central funds (protecting the legal aid budget).
R (on app of Costello) v North East Essex Magistrates’ Court [2006] All ER (D) 294, Successful judicial review of refusal to adjourn when defendant and his key witness had faced a grievous trauma shortly before trial. Art 6 ECHR engaged.
Khan v Waltham Forest Justices [2007] All ER (D) 29, Judicial review of delay in committal proceedings. Important strong obiter remarks against unofficial “one free adjournment” policy that had taken hold in some London magistrates’ courts.
Cebelis v Lithuania [2006] All ER (D) 251,Early case on requirements on European Arrest Warrant, in particular whether facts cited on the EAW must bear relationship to legal provisions cited on it; whether challenge can be made on basis that requesting state will endanger defendant’s ECHR rights.
Antony has significant experience around disclosure including dealing with sensitive and non-sensitive unused material and public interest immunity applications.
He has prosecuted a number of large scale frauds with complicated disclosure issues, including a MOD corruption case involving multiple armed forces personnel and civilian defendants with extensive unused material relating to MOD and NATO equipment and protocols. The sensitivity of the case required Mr Hook to report directly to the Attorney-General’s private office.
He has also prosecuted cases with large amounts of electronic material including records of insurance companies, large corporations, social media material and cases with social services and other sensitive public sector material.
He has given training to CPS lawyers on how to approach disclosure.
