John Hilton QC

Call 1964 Silk 1990
LLB (Hons) (Manchester University)

Practice: Crime and Fraud

Summary

General crime, white and blue collar fraud.

John Hilton QC prosecutes and defends serious, high-profile cases in the Central Criminal Court and in the Crown Courts. Cases include numerous murders and serious sex offences.

He is highly regarded as a 'persuasive jury advocate' and 'very effective cross examiner'.

He has particular expertise in cases involving DNA evidence. He delivers seminars on the subject, including 'DNA made easy'.

Career Details

Since taking silk, John Hilton QC has prosecuted and defended in a variety of important cases. He defended in one of the first insider-dealing investigations (Tondeau and others). Following a half-time submission, the defendant was acquitted.

In 1992, he defended the County Natwest Compliance Officer in the Blue Arrow case. It was a high-profile fraud, one of the most complex of its kind; a landmark case in which all 12 defendants were senior officers in various banks.

During the course of the following years, he has been involved in a number of notable cases. For example, Lakhani (1992), one of the largest VAT losses at the time, involving complicated aspects of international law, and McTaggart & others (1996), one of the first VAT carousel frauds. Both these defendants were acquitted.

The prosecution and defence of murders thereafter were interspersed with various frauds. Furtado and others (1999) involved Lord Brocket as a co-defendant; the allegations related to false insurance claims that were made on Brocket's Ferrari collection.

In 2005, he prosecuted the case of Garside and Bates, a complicated contract killing case, involving significant DNA issues. Following conviction, the case went to the Court of Appeal, who rejected the appeal [2006] EWCA Crim 1395.

He also defends in regulatory matters, as well as rapes and other sexual assaults.

Appointments

2010	SFO Approved Counsel List
1986 - 2004	Recorder

Additional Information

Registered with the Bar Council – Public Access Directory
Member of the Public Access Bar Association - PABA