Described in Chambers 2008 as “a rock and a staff to those instructing him”, and in Chambers 2009 as having “extensive experience of high-profile fraud cases”, and in Chambers UK 2010 as someone who "despite being a relatively young silk ... receives great support and widespread acknowledgement for the quality of his work." Rated in the ‘The Legal 500’ and described as “bright, steady and thoroughly nice”.
Mark Lucraft pursues a specialist fraud-based criminal practice both defending and prosecuting.
The beginning of his career was marked by instructions in a number of the largest cases of the 1980’s and 1990’s: the tail end of the cases arising out of the Johnson-Matthey collapse, and then the investigation and prosecutions arising from ‘Barlow Clowes’ and Maxwell.
Since then he has been instructed in a number of other cases by the Serious Fraud Office [SFO]: R.v. Dannis Cheung (investment fraud), R.v. Stone & Mottram (fraud on gas and oil exploration company) and he was part of the team instructed in one of the largest and most complex cases the SFO has taken on, the investigation into the generic drugs market (R.v. O’Neill and others). Despite the ending of the case, it remains good authority and best practice on a number of crucial issues, such as disclosure of vast amounts of electronic material and the use of section 3(5) CJA 1987 powers to disclose material to third parties. He is currently advising the SFO on an investigation into a suspected "boiler room" fraud.
He was instructed by the CPS in the autumn of 2004 to join the team instructed to prosecute Network Rail, Balfour Beatty and various personnel employed by them for manslaughter and health and safety offences arising out of the Hatfield rail crash in October 2000.
He is instructed by the Office of Fair Trading [OFT] to lead the prosecution of four employees of British Airways for alleged price fixing on airline passenger fuel surcharges [R v Martin George and others] - the trial is lised to start in April 2010. He was instructed by the OFT to prosecute the first criminal case brought under section 188 of the Enterprise Act 2002 (R v Peter Whittle and others [2008] EWCA Crim 2560).
Before taking silk, he was on the 'A' list of the Attorney General's panel of prosecution counsel and was regularly instructed to prosecute for the Inland Revenue/HM Revenue & Customs (now the RCPO). Many of the cases undertaken for the then Inland Revenue have involved prosecuting professionally qualified people. Customs cases include both VAT and drugs prosecutions.
In terms of defence work, he has been instructed in a whole range of fraud cases: mortgage fraud, pension fraud, MTIC fraud, investment fraud and money laundering. Many of his instructions are for cases in which RCPO or the SFO are prosecuting. He is currently instructed to represent a company director accused of tax fraud and also a company director accused of exporting weapons from one third party country to another in breach of trade and export control regulations.
He has also prosecuted and defended in cases arising out of serious road traffic accidents where death has resulted. In silk he has received instructions in a number of road traffic cases spanning a wide range of issues from allegations of causing death by dangerous driving and drink driving, to issues over driving licences and the status of a road. This work compliments his position as one of the editors to the Encyclopedia of Road Traffic Law and Practice and as one of the practitioner editors to the road traffic chapter in Archbold.
He is one of the barrister members of the Standards Committee of the Bar Standards Board. He is the Chambers Treasurer and Chairman of the General Management Committee of Chambers and the Finance Committee.
Publications
- Contributing editor, Archbold Criminal Pleading, Evidence and Practice. (Thomson, Sweet & Maxwell)
- Editor, Encyclopedia of Road Traffic Law. (Thomson, Sweet & Maxwell)
- Contributor, Fraud: Criminal Law and Procedure (OUP)
- Consultant Editor: Halsbury's Laws of England 4th Edition 2007 Reissue Volumes 40 (1), (2) & (3) on Road Traffic (Lexis Nexis Butterworths)
