Success in Confiscation Proceedings: £730k benefit figure reduced to £32k.

In January 2025, at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court, our client pleaded guilty to breaching a planning enforcement notice between 2019 and 2024. The property was co-owned with our client’s brothers. They had also been prosecuted, however, Ealing council abandoned its case against them, when our client pleaded guilty.

In the subsequent confiscation proceedings at Isleworth Crown Court, the council began by contending that our client had benefited as to the full amount of the rental income from the property during the period of the breach, which was £95k, despite the property being co-owned. The council also contended that our client was liable to pay £635k under the POCA criminal lifestyle provisions.

Our client had an extensive property portfolio, included property held in his personal name, joint names and in co-owned SPVs. Meticulous analysis of his money movements going back several years, along with 700+ pages of supporting material, enabled our client to provide a comprehensive picture of his property transactions and the distribution of rental income, during the relevant period.

The council was persuaded that our client’s benefit was only one third of the rental income from the property where the breach took place and to completely abandon its pursuit of the criminal lifestyle assumptions. A confiscation order was made in the sum of £32k.

In relation to sentence, the Crown Court was persuaded to impose a conditional discharge, having accepted the mitigation advanced on our client’s behalf.

This case was prepared by Sophie Drake and supervised by David Sonn, who appeared as advocate in the Magistrates’ and Crown Court.