Joe is an experienced lawyer specialising in international asset recovery and mutual legal assistance (‘MLA’). He also sits as a part-time Civil & Family Court Judge. He is known for his commitment to prosecuting and simplifying complex cases.
Following six years in criminal defence, where Joe defended cases including large scale drugs importations and complex PoCA cases, Joe then spent two years in academia where he dedicated time toward pro bono activity including Court of Appeal and CCRC cases.
Joe later worked within its Proceeds of Crime Unit, initially as a Senior Crown Prosecutor, advancing to Specialist Prosecutor and then Legal Manager, at the Crown Prosecution Service. His expertise spans high-stakes confiscation revisits and sensitive cases involving novel legal challenges and international elements. Among his successes are leading cases in s22 PoCA, including Cole [2018] EWCA Crim 888 and O’Flaherty [2018] EWCA Crim 2828, which coupled with the many other cases he prosecuted, secured the recovery of millions of pounds.
Joe prosecuted highly sensitive matters including touching upon Unexplained Wealth Orders (‘UWO’), Public Interest Immunity (‘PII’) issues, and multi-national offending, crypto currencies, and state-linked offending.
From 2020 to 2023, Joe served as a District Crown Prosecutor in CPS London North, managing a team handling serious criminal prosecutions in the Crown Court, including armed robbery, gang related offending and complex fraud. Several cases involved highly sensitive human intelligence, covert surveillance, and related complexities. Joe held the roles of area lead for Economic Crime and Deputy International Casework Lead, where he advised on MLA and proceeds of crime, including ensuring the seamless transition to new legal frameworks on numerous international cases post-Brexit.
In 2022, he was appointed a Deputy District Judge (Civil), later expanding his judicial responsibilities to Family and Financial Remedies.
From March 2023, Joe worked as a Specialist Prosecutor dealing with extradition cases, including grave cases where defendants have been returned to face trial and received significant custodial sentences, having attempted to evade justice in the UK. Joe is a panel expert for the Council of Europe in asset recovery and MLA.
Joe has a particular interest in the intersection between civil and criminal solutions for the tracing, seizure, and recovery of the proceeds of crime, especially including ‘crypto assets’. Joe’s experience across a variety of jurisdictions means that his approach is not bound to one way of working, and he will pursue novel avenues to find justice for victims here at Edmonds Marshall McMahon.
Article: “I’m Spartacus! – yet another person claiming to be ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’, creator of Bitcoin”
New Law Journal Article – Burn & Remint: A new tool in crypto asset recovery
Computer Generated Evidence – A Discussion
