Ali Dewji > 187 Chambers > London, England > Barrister Profile

Ali Dewji

020 7430 7430 alidewji@187chambers.com View profile

Work Department

Crime – general.

Position

Ali was called to the Bar in 2010 and accepts instructions to prosecute and
defend in all types of criminal cases.

Career

Criminal Defence:
R v JJ (Swansea Crown Court) – Ali’s client was the lead defendant in a multihanded case arising out of the collapse of a motor home dealership. Despite
starting out facing 22 counts of theft and fraud, and undergoing multiple trials and
legal arguments over several years, in the end Ali’s client was cleared of all
charges. At trial, Ali raised arguments based on contract law and equity and trusts
that resulted in several counts being withdrawn from the jury and the trial itself
being halted. The prosecution eventually offered no evidence on the remaining
charges.
http://www.cambrian-news.co.uk/479262398
https://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/843545
R v WC (Cardiff Crown Court) – Ali’s client was charged with being a key player
in a multi-handed ‘rogue-trader’ Fraud. The case turned on telephone and cellsite evidence. Ali successfully argued that there was insufficient evidence and all
counts were withdrawn from the jury by the judge.
R v DC (Court of Appeal, Criminal Division) – Ali’s client had been made the
subject of a Confiscation Order. When the client was involved in a traffic accident
and received about £20,000 in compensation for his injuries, a Crown Court judge
ordered that he pay that money to the prosecution. Ali took his client’s case to
the Court of Appeal and the court reversed the order in part – Ali’s client was
allowed to keep half the money.
(A copy of this judgement is available from Ali for other lawyers upon request.)
R v ND (Liverpool Crown Court) – Ali’s client was charged as part of a multihanded fraud case brought by Trading Standards in relation to alleged Rogue
Trader offences. Following careful negotiations and legal submissions Ali’s client
received a suspended sentence.
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/4566722
R v DW (Worcester Crown Court) – Ali’s client pleaded guilty to conspiracy to
steal as part of a multi-handed confidence Fraud. The prosecution sought a
starting point for sentence of 5 years but following more than an hour of oral
arguments about sentence Ali’s client received a suspended sentence.
http://www.herefordtimes.com/8452100
R v GH (Chester Crown Court) – Ali successfully applied to dismiss a charge
that his client had breached an Anti-Social Behaviour Order related to cold-calling
and rogue-trading. For a related breach his client received a suspended
sentence. The order had been made as result of earlier proceedings in which Ali
did not appear but which are reported here:
http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/5239059
R v MM (Newport Crown Court) – Ali’s client was a man of good character
charged with Perverting the Course of Justice by blackmailing an employee to
drop some charges arising out of a fight at a staff Christmas Party. His client was
unanimously acquitted by the jury after less than one hour of deliberations.
R v LD (Luton Crown Court) – Ali’s client was unanimously acquitted by the jury
after trial of Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm, Assault by Beating, Criminal

Damage, and Burglary in a revenge attack as part of a ‘family feud’.
R v X (Cardiff Crown Court) – Ali’s client was charged as a peripheral party to a
multi-handed Fraud case arising out of alleged confidence frauds totalling more
than £300,000. As a result of careful negotiations Ali’s client (whose identity is
protected) pleaded guilty to a single offence and was sentenced to a suspended
term of imprisonment. The co-defendants received prison sentences.
http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/11762815
R v TP (Cardiff Crown Court) – Ali’s client was identified by a witness as being
part of a multi-handed fraud against a Local Authority concerning, inter alia,
£100,000-plus compensation claims for lost horses. Following repeated
representations and legal arguments by Ali over many months, the case against
Ali’s client was abandoned by the prosecution at the start of the trial.
R v HN (Chelmsford Crown Court) – Ali’s client was unanimously acquitted by
the jury after trial of Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm against a child. The
case required expert cross examination of a vulnerable witness and Ali’s
handling of the witness was approved of by the judge.
R v GG (Snaresbrook Crown Court) – Ali’s client was unanimously acquitted by
the jury after trial of Sexual Assault on a friend during a night of drinking.
R v JL (St Albans Crown Court) – Ali’s client was an alcohol-dependent woman
unanimously acquitted by the jury after trial of Threatening to Commit Arson
against her estranged husband. The jury were told that she had a previous
conviction for Arson in similar circumstances.
R v NQ (Croydon Crown Court): – Ali’s client was charged with Burglary at a
beauty salon. The jury acquitted her of burglary and she was sentenced to a fine
for theft instead.
R v OBA (Isleworth Crown Court): –Ali’s client fled to Libya on the eve of his
trial to participate in the Civil War in that country. Ali successfully stopped the
prosecution from proceeding in his absence despite his voluntary absence and
breach of bail conditions.
R v JJ (Barking Juvenile Court) – Ali’s client was a 14-year-old youth charged
with Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm and Affray as part of a group attack
with a cricket bat. Ali successfully opposed applications by the Crown to rely on
hearsay evidence, with the result that the prosecution concluded there was
insufficient evidence to proceed.
R v DF (Camberwell Green Magistrates’ Court) – Case involving highly
vulnerable complainant and use of an intermediary for cross examination. Ali’s
client was acquitted of Witness Intimidation because of a successful legal
argument by Ali that there was no case to answer, and she received a suspended
sentence for the rest of the charges. Ali’s handling of the vulnerable witness was
complimented by the judge, and his legal submissions were described as
‘concise and accurate’.
R v AL (Thames Youth Court) – Ali’s client was picked out of a police line-up as
having been involved in a street robbery. He was found not guilty by a judge on
the basis that the evidence of identification was nevertheless insufficient.
In cases where Ali’s clients have decided to plead guilty he has often been
successful in securing suspended sentences for them.
http://www.haverhillecho.co.uk/3352709
http://www.bbc.co.uk/30197208
http://www.kentonline.co.uk/95957

Criminal Prosecution:
R v JB (Oxford Crown Court) – Ali secured conviction after trial of a defendant
charged with burglary based on DNA evidence; sentenced to 4 years
imprisonment.
https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/17811324.alleged-christmas-burglar-jasonbourton-left-vape-scene-rose-hill-oxford-break-in-trial-hears/
https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/17817293.prolific-burglar-jason-bourton—leftvape-scene—jailed-stealing-christmas-gifts-rose-hill-oxford-break-in/
R v GKB (Ipswich Crown Court) – Ali secured conviction after trial of a
defendant charged with possessing articles for use in online computer fraud
including ‘phishing’, ‘carding’ and the trade in stolen personal information.
http://www.halsteadgazette.co.uk/874352
R v BB (Guildford Crown Court) – Ali secured conviction after trial and a
sentence of 21 months’ imprisonment of a defendant charged with threatening
with a bladed article, affray and criminal damage as a result of an incident
involving the wielding of an axe in a public house.
R v DL (St Albans Crown Court) – Ali secured conviction and sentence of four
and a half years imprisonment for a defendant charged with two burglaries and
dangerous driving in a case that turned on a web of circumstantial evidence,
including call logs, text messages, instant messaging, cell site, ANPR, till receipts,
CCTV, fingerprints and DNA. The judge commented in summing up the case that
the phone evidence had been ‘carefully filleted’ for the jury by Ali in crossexamination.
R v SA (Central Criminal Court, ‘the Old Bailey’) –Despite being asked to fill in
on the day of trial for a colleague taken ill at court, Ali secured a conviction in a
case concerning a defendant charged with participating in organised group
robbery targeting men exiting a London gay nightclub. The defendant was
sentenced to five and half years’ immediate imprisonment and made subject to a
Criminal Behaviour Order banning him from Soho.
R v AB and others (Chelmsford Crown Court) – Ali was instructed to prosecute
a multi-handed case of dishonesty offences arising out of the organised group
burglary of an outdoor goods store. Ali noticed a defect in the Indictment and
altered it to remove the risk of a highly technical acquittal, leading to the main 2
defendants immediately changing their pleas to guilty.
R v BT (Inner London Crown Court) – A mentally disordered young man led
police on a high-speed car chase that required him to be rescued by helicopter
from marshland in South East London. Ali was successful in proving to the jury
that he did the act in question leading to a suitable order being made by the court
to improve his mental health.
In addition to prosecution on behalf of the Crown, Ali has been instructed on
behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions, Local Authorities and Trading
Standards. He has experience of regulatory prosecution under the Consumer
Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations in the Crown Court, enforcement
proceedings in relation to Community Protection Notices in the Magistrates’
Court, and committals to prison in cases concerning civil injunctions in the County
Court.
Ali has also been instructed in a pro bono capacity by the Stop Ivory campaign to
advise the Malawian DPP in relation to an appeal against an inappropriate
sentence in a prosecution in that jurisdiction involving 2.6 tonnes of ivory, which
ultimately resulted in a landmark ruling in the Supreme Court of Malawi and an
increase in sentence from fines of $5,500 to 8 years’ imprisonment in each case.
https://www.mishcon.com/545699
LANDMARK RULING IN MZUZU IVORY CASE HAILED A VICTORY
FOR WILDLIFE

Regulatory Law:
Ali has been appointed as an investigator under s.168 FSMA 2000 to assist the
Financial Conduct Authority in regulatory enforcement investigations. His
experience includes drafting Warning Notices, conducting legal research,
document and disclosure review, and taking part in conferences, presentations
and negotiations on behalf of the Authority.

Memberships

Criminal Bar Association
Liberty
Justice
Amnesty International
Grade 2 CPS Counsel

Education

Awards, Qualifications & Other:
LLM (Distinction), University College London
GDL and LLB, City Law School
Diplock Scholarship, Middle Temple
BSc (hons.) International Relations and History, London School of Economics

Leisure

Mixed Martial Arts; Arsenal Football Club.