Partner
LLB (Hons)
Described in the Legal 500 as “a feisty, diligent solicitor who anyone would want on their side”, Hanisha has over 15 years’ experience in criminal defence work predominantly specialising in high profile and serious complex criminal allegations with particular emphasis on Murder, Sexual Offences including Rape and Historic Grooming allegations, Terrorism and Serious and Complex Fraud.
Hanisha has considerable expertise in successfully litigating large scale cases involving multi defendants and cases of a sensitive nature. This expertise also includes litigating multi-million-pound confiscation cases.
Clients regularly commend Hanisha on her ability to take control of a case, getting to the heart of the issues quickly and providing the calming reassurance that clients and their families require when facing allegations which have life changing consequences.
Hanisha is the head of the firms Crown Court department and supervises a team of paralegals and solicitors.
Hanisha also regularly attends the Magistrates and Youth Courts as an advocate for clients facing a variety of allegations and also attends the Police Station to advise clients who are to be interviewed. Clients are put at ease by Hanisha’s level headed and tactical approach to protecting her client’s interests.
Serious Fraud & Business Crime Cases
This case concerned a serious fraud against the NHS. The defendant was employed on an agency basis for the Bromley Primary Care Trust for a number of years as a commissioner who defrauded hundreds of thousands of pounds by dishonestly invoicing for the care of patients receiving services under the Mental Health Act.
This case consisted of 7 defendants, all charged with conspiracy to defraud the Secretary of Work and Pensions. There were two separate frauds involving the lead defendant. The case involved making false access to work claims. Access to work is a scheme to assist disabled individuals in obtaining and remaining in employment. In this case, the companies were employing individuals who were hard of hearing and the assistance provided through the scheme was sign language interpreters. The disclosure in this matter was very substantial.
This was a serious, sophisticated and multi -handed case involving a conspiracy to defraud various high street banks. The case was aggravated by the fact that the targeted victims of this fraud concerned vulnerable & elderly victims by an organised crime group who worked within the banks and managed to scam hundreds of thousands of pounds.
This investigation concerned an allegation that the Defendant which we represented was a sophisticated and cunning money launderer who was closely linked with serious and organised criminality in the Thames Valley, Hampshire and Surrey areas. The prosecution relied Based on surveillance and cell site evidence to attempt to prove the movement and launder of millions of pounds through numerous bank accounts. The case was linked to R v A and Operation Quaker.
This was one of the largest ever prosecutions brought by the UKBA. The case involved a sophisticated multi handed conspiracy to facilitate the immigration of asylum seekers into the UK, following a nine -month covert operation at Heathrow Airport. The case related to Afghan illegal immigrants who were provided with counterfeit passports by the organised crime group.
This case concerned a multi-handed immigration fraud orchestrated by an organised crime group who ran a sophisticated and commercial operation involving in excess of 520 false Visa Applications to The Home Office. The prosecution material served was vast and included false wage slips to the tune of £1.4 million. One of the defendants pretended to employ musicians at his business, which was made to look like a legitimate business
This case related to a serious and substantial immigration visa fraud consisting of 3 defendants. The lead defendant and his wife, set up a company that obtained a sponsorship license from the UKBA in order to recruit people from overseas to work at the company. This involved various applicants – who were either already in the UK or abroad applying for a visa to work in the UK under the scheme – allegedly paying money to the defendants for a visa. The prosecution disclosure in this matter was approximately 20,000 pages and the immigration fraud was estimated to have a value of over £1 million.
ABV represented a defendant who conspired with others to facilitate breaches of immigration law in a conspiracy involving “reverse” smuggling, i.e. taking migrants from the UK to France. An undercover journalist working for The Sun newspaper discussed and arranged with our client to secretly smuggle 2 males out of the UK. Arrests were made after a tip-off by The Sun newspaper to the police in Kent. The sentence was appealed and reduced by the Court of Appeal.
Serious & General Crime Cases
A highly publicised case in which the Defendant, a high-flying City Banker, faced a trial for the murder of his wife who was a successful business woman in their newly built £2 million family home. The Defendant accepted the unlawful killing of his wife but at the time of doing so, was suffering from an abnormal mental functioning of the mind. Difficult and complicated case, both emotionally and legally, which required the use of experts to determine whether the Defendant was suffering from an abnormality at the time of the unlawful killing despite considerable evidence of premeditation in the days leading up to the killing.
Multi handed Conspiracy to Murder and associated Firearms offences involving the beating of a drug associate who was then shot 4 times. Client acquitted of conspiracy to murder but convicted of conspiracy to inflict GBH level injuries and various firearms offences.
This case involved two young defendants charged with manslaughter and arson, who set light to a piece of paper in a derelict house causing the death of a homeless person who had been using the building. A difficult case involving youths aged 14 and 16 years.
Represented one of two defendants charged with the murder of another young male after a drunken brawl resulted in death. This case raised issues of joint enterprise and causation.
21 – handed gang related murder and violent disorder in West London involving adults and youths aged 12. Issue of joint enterprise. We represented a 12 year old who was acquitted of murder but convicted of Manslaughter and received a 7 year sentence. Three others convicted of murder received minimum sentences of 15, 14 and 13 years respectively.
Murder allegation as part of a Gangland dispute often referred to as a postcode war. The defendant is thought to be a central figure of the notorious ‘Beaumont Boys Gang’. The Prosecution in this case made a Witness Anonymity application under the provisions of section 87(1) Coroners and Justice Act 2009.
This case was a multi handed conspiracy which was a highly publicised case involving a cash in transit theft of a Loomis van containing £7 million. Two men who worked at Loomis staged a kidnap and the cash was stolen. This cash has never been found. Our client was said to be involved in the conspiracy to steal and then assist her husband to launder £800,000 of that money from Pakistan in order to purchase a house in the UK.
This case was televised on Brighton Police and involved 6 defendants who conspired to commit a robbery motivated by revenge. This offence was arranged by the brother of our client who was serving a sentence in prison. 6 men forced their way into the victim’s home with their faces covered and with weapons where the victim and his friend were repeatedly attacked, whilst young children were present.
We were instructed to represent many cases involving the 2012 riots across the country including offences of violent disorder, burglary, theft and arson.
ABV represented two of four defendants. For offences of conspiracy to kidnap. It was alleged that £400,000 worth of jewellery was stolen and in an attempt to recover it our first client organised the kidnapping of the complainant believing that he was storing the stolen jewellery. After a lengthy trial all defendants were acquitted of all charges.
ABV represented a young male with learning difficulties involved in a multi handed kidnap where the defendants were alleged to have kidnapped a male and placed him in the boot of their car. Our client was acquitted of the kidnap.
This case involved 5 Defendants accused of possession of firearms and the supply of drugs. This case involved the instruction of a DNA expert to deal with the issue of transfer of DNA in respect of our client and whether or not they had any connection to the firearms or drugs. Our Client was acquitted of possession with intent to supply class A drugs but convicted of the firearms offences.
A multi handed conspiracy alleged to be a nationwide commercial scale drugs operation. The drugs (Heroin) were valued at approximately £4 million. The case was investigated over a period of time using covert surveillance both audio and visual.
We successfully represented a Magistrates Court Clerk and others in respect of a Multi- Handed Conspiracy to Pervert Course of Justice, investigated by the Anti-Terrorist police and featured in Crime Watch UK.
This was a high profile terrorism case involving two males who travelled to Syria to engage in violent jihad and were both convicted in a separate trial. The defendant, who was initially a prosecution witness, was said to have assisted these defendants in making arrangements to go to Syria and provided them with detailed advice on how to cross the Turkey and Syrian border.
We represented the sister of the main defendant who entered guilty pleas to engaging in conduct to commit acts of terrorism. His wife was also charged in encouraging him but was convicted by a jury. Our client entered guilty pleas on a basis to sending a terrorist publication, intending to either directly/ indirectly to encourage them to prepare an act of terrorism. This case required analysis of the WhatsApp chat, and web search history. The defence team prepared a significant mitigation bundle which resulted in a reduced sentence of 30 months imprisonment.
This case was a high profile Dangerous Driving charge resulting from the National Express Coach Crash on the M4/M25, which caused 3 deaths and injuries to over 50 passengers which included amputations. The case required expertise in a large – scale accident reconstruction and detailed analysis of scientific reports provided by leading experts in the field.
The case was highly publicised at the time due to the ‘viral’ content that spread across online media and social media websites showing the incident that took place. Our client faced a charge of dangerous driving and a charge of attempt to cause grievous bodily harm with intent. It was alleged that the Defendant drove his car purposefully onto the pavement where the victim was cycling, thereby knocking him down with force. The Crown had to offer no evidence in the case due to the lack of evidence.
Sexual Offences
This defendant faced one count of rape. The complainant’s account was that she was very drunk and believed at the time she was having sexual intercourse with her husband. Her husband had been asleep next to her. The defendant maintained that the sexual intercourse was consensual. The defendant was acquitted after a trial.
ABV represented a professional footballer who is alleged to have met the complainant, aged 17 on Tinder. They met at a co-defendant’s home, and engaged in consensual sexual activity. The complainant then alleges that non-consensual activity takes place between the three of them. Images and videos were taken of the sexual activities.
ABV Solicitors represented a Defendant who was jointly charged with his girlfriend and both suffered from severe learning disabilities for offences of conspiracy to rape and digital penetration. Both defendants were convicted of conspiracy to rape but acquitted of digital penetration. This was a case which involved intermediaries for both Defendants throughout the trial process.
This case involved a twelve count indictment, consisting of various historical offences of rape of a child, assault of child under 13 by penetration, Sexual Activity with a child and causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity. The sexual contact being with the Defendant’s (aged 8 at the time) half-sister (aged 5 at the time). There were a number of inconsistencies with the account provided by the complainant resulting in limited guilty pleas to the less serious offences. The matter was sent back to the Youth Court and the Defendant received a referral order.
ABV represented a masseur on a cruise ship who was accused of providing a massage and whilst doing so sexually assaulted the complainant. This offence involved a serious breach of trust where the complainant was in a vulnerable position as she would have been in a state of undress at the time in a secluded room on the ship. A trial took place and the defendant was acquitted of all charges.
We represented an ex navy male accused of sexually abusing his step daughter over a period of time when she was a child many years ago. The allegations contained a number of inconsistencies in the complainant’s account where the Defendant was acquitted of all charges.
ABV represented a learning support teaching assistant at a primary school for an allegation of sexually touching a 6 years old student whilst at school during a lesson. This defendant was acquitted at trial.
This case was a multi handed historical grooming matter where we represented two of the defendants facing a number of charges including conspiracy to rape two females who were aged approximately 13 years at the time. One of our clients faced 4 charges, two of rape and 2 of sexual activity with a child. An application to dismiss was made in respect of three of the charges including both rapes which was successful. The second defendant who faced allegations of Conspiracy to Rape was found Not Guilty.
This case was an allegation of sexual activity with a child and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity ‘grooming’.
This case involved 12 defendants who were accused of grooming two complainants. The Prosecution case was that these males then invited other men to have sex with the girls. We represented two of the defendants; one was acquitted of all charges.
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