Andrew joined King Street Chambers in Chester in 1993 which then became Nicholas Street Chambers. He remained in Chester until 2008 and then moved to Exchange Chambers.
During his time at Exchange Chambers, Andrew specialised in financial crime and fraud in cases involving pension, mortgage and banking fraud.
However, he also continued to defend in cases involving serious and organised crime.
He has now moved back to Chester, joining Linenhall Chambers in 2025.
Financial Crime
May 2024 to January 2025 – led by Paul Bogan KC, Andrew successfully defendant the main defendant in a £6m pension fraud. This became the longest trial held at Newcastle Crown Court.
September 2023 to January 2024 Andrew successfully defended a business accused of being involved in an MTIC conspiracy allegedly causing loss to HMRC of £1.4m.
2023 Andrew successfully defended at trial one of 7 defendants accused of defrauding HMRC of over £4m in relation to the evasion of duty on tobacco products.
2022 The prosecution ended up discontinuing the case against a businessman accused by Berkshire Trading Standards of being involved in a large-scale conspiracy involving allegations of fraudulent trading and unfair commercial practices.
2020/2021 – R v Christopher Renshaw and others. Andrew acted for an East Midlands businessman who was accused, along with his wife and their builder, of seeking to evade VAT of £173k by fabricating and submitting false invoices for building work done at their properties. The trial was due in April 2020 at Derby Crown Court but due to COVID-19 was not resolved until April 2022.
2021 – Operation Paratrooper
Andrew represented one of the defendants being prosecuted by the Specialist Fraud Division of the CPS who was accused of benefit fraud and money laundering amounting to over £1.7m. Due to Covid-19 this case did not resolve until March 2022.
2020 – R v Ryan and others
Andrew represented a director at E.Asthampton Limited, which purported to specialise in claims for compensation for delayed and cancelled flights. Client was alleged to be involved in defrauding the company’s customers. Due to Covid-19 this case did not resolve until 2021. HHJ Mayo praised the defence for the use of Escrow accounts to allow for the deposit of funds prior to the entry of guilty pleas, thereby guaranteeing the payment of compensation and costs.
2019/2020 – Operation Hamster
Andrew represented a solicitor accused of being involved in a “property takeover fraud” in which attempts were made to sell a number of high-value houses in London to innocent victims without the knowledge of the genuine owners.
2018/2019 – Operation Rossi
Andrew represented one of the defendants in this ticketing fraud based at a commercial bus company in North Wales which caused significant losses to the Welsh Assembly which had underwritten the ticketing scheme.
2016/2017 – R v Cumiskey (and others)
Andrew was led by Benjamin Myers QC. This case was prosecuted by the SFO and involved a fraud on two banks with losses totalling £159m, only £17m of which was recovered. The case involved the fraudulent assignment of a large number of contracts to the banks on the basis of which the banks lent out the £159m.The defendant we represented was the Finance Director of one of the two companies which assigned the contracts. He was said to be at the heart of the fraud. This case was partly funded through a D&O insurance policy.
2016/2018 – Operation Lunar
Andrew was led by John jones QC. They represented a former HMRC officer alleged to be involved in tax evasion schemes (so called Section 132 Schemes) based around films, videogames, digital software and pharmaceutical products for high net-worth individuals causing an alleged loss to HMRC of approximately £150m. This case was funded through a D&O insurance policy. The case against all defendants collapsed as a result of defence legal arguments. After the case concluded, we secured a six-figure Section 19 costs award against the CPS.
2015/2016 – R v C
Successfully defended client accused of £2m money laundering
2015/2016 – Operation Affleck
Represented Defendant in £3.5m Land Banking fraud
2015/2016 – Operation Alveras
Represented Defendant in £11m money laundering scheme – confiscation proceedings were eventually abandoned against him
2013/2014 – Operation Cactus Hent
Represented main Defendant in multi-million pound alleged pension fraud – all defendants acquitted at the close of the Crown’s case – ruling upheld after unsuccessful appeal by the Prosecution – now reported as R v Quillan [2015] EWCA Crim 538
General Crime
2023/2024 – Operation Bakewell
Represented one of the defendants accused of flying drones into prisons in Manchester and Liverpool, conveying prohibited articles directly to prisoners.
2023 – Operation Lakenheath
Represented one of the defendants accused of kidnapping a lottery winner, then demanding a ransom and ultimately seriously injuring him by shooting.
2020/2021 – Operation Chairs
Led by Andrew Haslam QC. Case involving a number of defendants who were involved in conspiracies to shoot rivals and possess firearms and ammunition. We represented an ex-soldier who had attempted to execute a rival on his doorstep with a handgun. Much of the evidence came from encro phones.
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/warringtonattempted-murder-face-trial-18422367
2020 – R v Vassell
Successfully defended a serving prisoner accused of sexual assault and assault on a female prison officer. Defence argued allegations had been fabricated by members of the prison staff because client claimed to have witnessed other prison staff assaulting and killing an inmate. Prosecution dropped the case without any real explanation. Completed in November 2020 at Manchester Crown Court.
2019 – R v Cole and others
Successfully defended a Liverpool doorman accused of violent disorder. A large group of well organised football hooligans, some of them armed with knuckledusters and gum shields, had flown to Liverpool from Germany with the specific intent of causing largescale public disorder.
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/prosecutiondoormen-who-fought-german-15880976
2018 – R v Johnson and others
The case involved huge quantities of cocaine being flown into Kent from France and Belgium in hidden compartments in a specially converted helicopter. I represented a man who was stopped by police driving back up to Liverpool. He had 40kg of high purity cocaine in the boot of his car. He was acquitted by the jury after a 5 week trial.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5646927/Belgian-druglord-jailed-17-years.html
2018/2019 – Operation Mandolin
The case involved the importation into the UK of shipping containers of cigarettes and tobacco on which no duty was paid. The duty evaded exceeded £5m. The proceeds of this operation were then laundered through the purchase and sale of motor vehicles.
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/man-jailed-ten-years-part-14961808
2015/2017 – Operation Tungsten
This case involved the importation of Class A, B and C drugs into the UK. The defendant was involved in organising the transport route for approximately £50m worth of cannabis and ketamine. He was convicted after trial in 2015. The Proceeds of Crime Act proceedings concluded after defence written submissions with the Prosecution agreeing to reduce the criminal benefit figure from £50.5m to £200k.
1986-89 – Exeter University LLB
1992-1993 – Inns of Court School of Law, London
CPS Grade 2
Tier 1 – Crime (General and Fraud)
The Legal 500 2025
“He is a good all-round performer.”
Chambers and Partners 2024
“Andrew is very calm and controlled at all times, which keeps the client focused on the points in issue at all times, and his calm manner of presentation before the jury provides to them a confidence the case he is presenting to them is the account they should accept as a factual one.”
The Legal 500 2024
“Andrew is phenomenal on getting to grips with the work. His written work is exceptional.”
Chambers and Partners 2023
“Andrew is a very experienced, highly regarded advocate. He has an ability to build a good relationship with the client from the outset and put them at ease ensuring that they then listen to his advice. He meticulously prepares his cases and can get to the very crux of the issues and formulate an approach early on in a case, ultimately resulting in the best outcome possible for the client.”
The Legal 500 2023
“His attention to detail is second to none and he gets to grips with the case papers very quickly. He is personable and a fantastic team player.” “He’s very diligent and provides sound advice. He’s also excellent at communicating with clients.”
Chambers and Partners 2022
“Andrew is very well-organised and has a good manner with clients. Andrew is capable of picking up cases with a large volume of paperwork and presenting them to a jury in an simple way, demonstrating a clear understanding of the relevant issues.”
The Legal 500 2022
“Andrew is the consummate professional in his conduct with both solicitors and clients. He is an extremely experienced criminal defence barrister who is calm, patient and more importantly committed to providing the highest level of advice and support.”
Chambers and Partners 2021
“An exceptional advocate who commands presence in the courtroom – and his ability to establish respect from demanding clients is truly remarkable.”
The Legal 500 2021
“He is absolutely superb in his advocacy and his preparation.”
“He is really calm and he radiates integrity. Judges and clients like him, and he’s very able and quick-thinking. His written work is excellent as well.”
Chambers and Partners 2020
“His submissions are always lucid, logical and well-developed.”
The Legal 500 2020
“He’s very, very good; he always knows what the recent cases are and what the new laws are going to be and how to deploy that knowledge for clients.” “His strengths are his calmness under pressure, forensic analysis and case preparation.”
Chambers and Partners 2019
“He has expertise in cases involving financial crime.”
The Legal 500 2018/19
“He is very experienced, a very safe pair of hands and has a real substance to his practice.”
Chambers and Partners 2018
“He has great instincts and is level-headed in a tight spot.”
The Legal 500 2017
“He is exceptionally good. He is very organised and has extremely good judgement.”
Chambers and Partners 2017
