Appointments
• Queen's Counsel 2008
• Commendatore of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, 2007
• Crown Court Recorder since 1993
Professional Associations
• Criminal Bar Association
• South Eastern and Western Circuits
General Professional Background
Brian won his first jury acquittal at the Old Bailey when only twenty-two years of age, and has practised continually at the criminal bar ever since. Between 1971 and 1992, Brian practised exclusively from London. From 1992 to 2002, he was Head of Chambers at South Western Chambers, Taunton and practised mainly on the Western Circuit, of which he remains a member. In 2003, he returned to London, and now practises throughout England and Wales. He is equally comfortable and experienced in defence and prosecution work. His enthusiasm for the job continues unabated!
Areas of specialisation
Brian specialises in serious crime of all varieties, particularly serious fraud and money laundering. He is also head of the Chambers’ Extradition team.
He has extensive experience of prosecuting serious crime, and is currently on the Serious Fraud Office List of Queen’s Counsel. He has prosecuted, amongst others, as a leader for the SFO, the Revenue and Customs, CPS Serious Casework and the CPS Specialist Fraud Department.
He has defended in all types of serious crime over the years. He led for the defence in the Robinsons SFO trial at Bristol. His career includes defending in one of the Guinness trials and leading the defence for the 2nd Defendant in the Levitt trial [1993].
He has led for the defence and prosecution in a number of cases involving substantial P.I.I. applications, including R v Adams [incitement to murder, Bristol Crown Court], R v Bohan and Gilligan [conspiracy to commit armed robbery, Winchester Crown Court], R v Woollard & others [conspiracy to handle stolen bonds, Snaresbrook Crown Court] and R v Nutman and Peterson [conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, Dorchester Crown Court]. His expertise in relation to the use of covert listening devices led to his appointment as a Consultant Editor of the expert periodical: Forensic Linguistics. Since returning full time to London in 2003, he has been involved in a leading role in a number of substantial money laundering cases, including prosecuting in R v Aidah, Rajan, Maalo & others [the doctors and dentists fraud at Southwark Crown Court 2001-2]. He recently successfully completed, as a leader, the cases of Operation Horizon [Southwark], Operation Nail [Croydon], Operation Overdraft [ILCC] and Operation Phoenix [Woolwich], all major trials involving international fraud, money laundering and drugs. Brian also has recent experience of terrorism cases. In 2008 he defended “Mr Big” in Operation Compass, an eight-handed Vietnamese gang murder at the Cardiff Crown Court, securing his acquittal of murder. His manslaughter conviction is pending in the Court of Appeal. In 2009, he defended in boiler room fraud and gang murder trials, and led the defence of “Mr Big” in Operation Jericho at Birmingham Crown Court.
Brian defends in Disciplinary Tribunals and Appeal Tribunals, and has particular experience of Lloyd’s of London disciplinary tribunals.
Extra-practice Commitments
Brian was honoured in 2007 by the President of Italy, who bestowed on him the rank of a Commendatore of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic for his work with the Monte San Martino Trust, of which he was the Chairman from 1997-2005. He continues to work with the Trust and other Italian-orientated organisations to commemorate the sacrifices made by Italians between 1943-5 in support of escaped Allied prisoners of war and Allied combatants behind enemy lines, and to foster good relations between Italy and the United Kingdom. Brian is an enthusiastic mountain walker, and re-creates annually the escape trails used by Second World War P.O.W’s in Northern Italy, where he runs a small historical centre. In September 2007, Brian successfully led an expedition which re-traced the escape route of S.A.S. Operation Galia for the first time since 1945, walking and climbing for forty-four hours over four days between Rossano and Seravezza in the Nothern Tuscan mountains.
On 27th June 2010, Brian is making an attempt on Mt Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain, in aid of the Great Ormond Street Children’s Charity. Those interested in supporting him are asked to go to www.justgiving.com/brianlett-kili2010 .
Brian is a Vice President of Wellington Rugby Club in Somerset, and a member of the M.C.C.. He is married with four children, one still of school age.
For further information on Brian's Extra Practice Commitments please email him on hbglett@aol.com.
