He also had a number of previous convictions which had never been disclosed. Over the next few weeks a drip-feed of disclosure revealed that the investigator was indeed the same person as the defendant at the Bailey. The prosecution set about gathering more details of the individual concerned. The trial was delayed and the jury told they would not be required for a few days. The defence teams submitted a number of section 8 disclosure requests. At this point, the wax holding Icarus’ wings together began to melt. He had been acquitted on defence submission. Mid-way through the opening of the case some diligent internet research revealed that a detective with the same name as the investigator at the centre of the case had once been tried at the Old Bailey for alleged offences relating to fabrication of evidence. A larger than usual jury panel had to be borrowed from another Crown Court centre. A room was repurposed at a larger Magistrates’ Court, with an overflow courtroom linked to the main one. Its size was such that the local Crown Court could not accommodate it. In reality, he proved to be the undoing of the entire case.Īfter many months of delay due to Covid and other factors, the case first came for trial early in the summer of 2022, more than four years after the search warrants had been executed. On paper, the individual they brought into their team was an experienced retired police detective. The scale of the operation led to the recruitment of a freelance investigator by the prosecuting local authority. Several alleged victims paid tens of thousands of pounds for products which were said to have been hugely overpriced, useless or both. It was alleged that between 20 they had operated, via a number of companies, a scheme which deliberately targeted the elderly, and cynically exploited their insecurities and worries about energy efficiency. The six defendants were accused of conspiracy to defraud, and a number of frauds by false representation. Doubtless it was thought that Icarus would be a suitable name for an operation which began with a company selling solar panels. Operation Icarus was an investigation into the alleged fraudulent mis-selling of purported energy-saving products to the elderly and vulnerable. Five members of Drystone Chambers successfully defended, four as leading juniors. One local authority learned last week of the dangers inherent in disclosure failures.
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