Fraud convictions quashed over drink

The £10m case at Southwark has collapsed

Three people convicted of major fraud have been freed after it emerged that a policeman involved in the case made improper contact with the jury.

The Court of Appeal quashed the convictions of the defendants on Friday, after some jury members joined Dectective Constable Keith Hughes for a drink after the trial finished.

The court has ruled that there was a real danger of bias, and there will be no retrial.

The seven-month trial cost taxpayers an estimated £10m.

Pub meeting

It is alleged that in the course of the trial jurors recieved a business card from Detective Constable Keith Hughes via a court usher.

It also emerged that Mr Hughes occassionally travelled to the court on the same train as two of the jurors.

After the trial, half of the jury joined him for drinks at his local pub in Plumstead, south-east London.

Lord Justice Roach ruled there was a risk that the jurors could have been influenced by the contact.

The police have not commented on the decision to free the trio.

Conspiracy to defraud

The defendants, two Italians and a Swiss, were initially jailed for between three and five years for conspiracy to defraud, and had already served eight months in prison.

Southwark Crown Court heard in the course of the trial how John Lombard, 50, his wife Veronica, 28, and Gian Udovic, cheated clients around the world with promises of cheap finance.

Lawyers acting for the three defendants were unaware Det Con Hughes had made any contact with the jurors until they received a letter from the Crown Prosecution Service.

The defence team then asked the judge, Valerie Pearlman, to defer sentencing until a full investigation had determined the exact nature of the contact with the jury.

But at the time Judge Pearlman refused and went on to jail the trio.

No retrial

Initial calls by the prosecution for a retrial have been withdrawn on cost grounds.

It was also felt that DC Hughes had been "discredited" by his actions.

The high profile case had already made legal history after Judge Pearlman concluded the trial via an internet link from her hospital bed after breaking her leg, to save £3m in retrial costs.