Private Prosecutions

Initial Advice £900 Fixed Fee

JMW offers a fixed fee service for £900 (inclusive of VAT), which includes a two-hour consultation where we will discuss the merits of your case with you and look through any available evidence. We may also need to make background enquiries. Following the consultation, we will send you a letter confirming our advice, setting out our recommended next steps and a budget where appropriate. 

The cost of this service will be deducted from the total cost of your legal fees should you choose to instruct JMW. Please note that the availability of the fixed fee service is subject to confirmation. 

Our team also has a list of preferred specialist barristers who will provide additional expertise and assistance for a fixed fee of £600 (inclusive of VAT). Please note that opting for this service is not necessary to obtain our initial advice. 

For a company, bringing a prosecution can be a faster and cheaper alternative to using the civil courts when redressing fraud, theft or counterfeiting matters. A company can also run a prosecution alongside a civil claim to increase the range and effectiveness of the overall action.

For individuals, bringing your own prosecution can be the only way to get justice when the police are too slow, are under-resourced or simply lack the expertise or willpower to investigate your case. Too often members of the public are told that something is a 'civil matter' when it is not.

To speak to a solicitor about making a private prosecution, get in touch with JMW today by calling 0345 872 6666, or fill in our online enquiry form and we will get back to you.

How JMW Can Help

JMW has had a business crime department for nearly 40 years. The department employs several former police officers, as well as some very senior former crown prosecutors. This is backed up by one of the largest business crime and regulatory teams in the country. All of this comes together to ensure that the private prosecutor's chances of success are maximised on the most cost-effective basis.

We have extensive knowledge of this area of the law and a track record of success in helping clients to pursue private prosecutions.

Reasons for Starting a Private Prosecution

When an employee has committed theft or fraud

Companies can take action against an employee or former employee who has committed theft or fraud. Often a company will want to take advice on the criminal consequences of an employee's actions at the same time as carrying out its disciplinary procedures. As well as recovering the proceeds of the crime, bringing a prosection can have a deterrent effect and be an opportunity for assessing its internal procedures. Companies will also want to pursue third parties who infringe their trademarks in order to maintain the integrity of their brand.

When the police have failed to investigate

Public confidence in the police's ability to investigate crime is at an all-time low. Cuts to police funding and falling numbers of officers have resulted in high numbers of victims waiting months or even years for a decision, or failing to have their cases pursued at all. We have advised many clients who have been told by the police that their complaint is a civil matter, when in fact it is a criminal one. Bringing your own prosecution with a private solicitor will almost certainly be faster than the police and Crown Prosecution Service and give you more control than you would otherwise have.

When there has been perjury or an attempt to pervert the course of justice

Private prosecutors are in a better position to assess the merits of difficult cases like allegations of perjury or attempts to pervert the course of justice. If you have been convicted of a crime but suspect that witnesses in the case have broken the law, investigating the merits of a private prosecution can go hand in hand with considering an appeal against conviction.

Pursuing a group prosection

Prosecutions are stronger where there is evidence of more than one victim. A private prosecution can be the appropriate course where individual members of the public have been defrauded by one company, for example, if they have been victims of an investment scam.