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Education

1995 BA (Hons) French Law and English Law, University of Kent at Canterbury/Universite de Grenoble

Practice

Criminal Defence.
Instructed both as junior counsel and on her own in serious and organised crime cases, including drugs importations, major frauds and serious violence, rape and child abuse. Carolina appears both at first instance and appellate level and has appeared in the High Court on applications for judicial review and certificates of inadequacy.

Carolina Guiloff is associated with the following areas of expertise:

Crime
General Fraud

Cases

Fraud and Financial Regulation

  • R v Last, VHCC – Multi-million pound diversion fraud involving importation of alcohol and tobacco, facilitated by dishonest customs officers; eleven defendants. Difficult tactical considerations arose. The defendant was the only one of the eleven to be linked directly to the imported goods; despite the fact that he did not give evidence and gave a no- comment interview, he was acquitted.
  • R v Cenolli - Instructed alone for one of defendants said to be one of the organisers of this fraud, described by the police and media as the biggest passport and identity document fraud yet discovered.
  • R v Marsden - Multi-million pound “carousel” fraud involving evasion of duty on computer chips and telephones, facilitated by dishonest customs officers; acted for a “buffer” and money launderer.  Case involved the analysis of tens of thousands of service of material following the “Wallbank protocol” and also disclosure arguments akin to those advanced in the London City Bond cases.
  • R v Patapiou – Instructed alone on multi-million pound cigarette importation; successfully defended confiscation proceedings for £750,000.
  • R v Hilton and Rossiter – Instructed alone on sophisticated nation-wide fraud and money laundering case, facilitated by dishonest bank employees. R v Worrall & Others - Multi-million pound “carousel” fraud, acting for a “buffer” trader.

Crime

  • R v Malik- Murder, conspiracy to imprison, perversion of the course of justice involving multiple defendants accused of killing a Luton faith healer. The case was based largely on voluminous telephone and expert cell-site evidence.
  • R v Allen –Junior counsel for the Appellant in one of the “baby shaking” appeals, involving complex medical issues.
  • R v Martin – Junior counsel in this murder case described by pathologist as “frenzied” attack following breakdown of a relationship; minimum term reduced on appeal.
  • R v Nashon Harrison – Junior counsel in a South London shooting case involving substantial issues concerning DNA, firearms and bad character relating to the defendant’s alibi witness.
  • R v Shafick Wamala –Instructed on her own in case of attempt murder involving a gang of youths stabbing another youth and causing near fatal injuries.
  • R v Harty- Armed robbery of a cash-in-transit van and follow-on armed “car-jacking” of a woman in a passing vehicle. An “ipp” was avoided at a time before the amendments to the Criminal Justice Act 2003 had been implemented.
  • R v Golding and another- Instructed to represent young defendant of good character accused of a joint enterprise near- fatal stabbing of another youth. The prosecution offered no evidence on the s.18 
    GBH following legal argument.
  • R v Riley- Successfully represented the defendant in robbery case of an elderly man in his home, where the defendant’s DNA was found on the cable ties used to tie up the complainant before he was tortured.
  • R v Dappaah- Conspiracy to rob. Successfully applied to dismiss this case involving a series of organised cash- in- transit van robberies.
  • R v Horne- Gun-point robbery of a woman in her home. The case involved character issues relating to the possession of incriminating articles found on arrest.
  • R v Ruiz Henao – VHCC. Acted for principal defendant in multi-million pound 'Columbian drug baron' case which received extensive media coverage. Police alleged that at the time of his interview he was the biggest cocaine dealer in the United Kingdom. Case involved covert and intrusive surveillance, extensive financial documentation relevant to criminal lifestyle and money laundering, and complex confiscation proceedings.
  • R v Shane Bennett & Others-Instructed alone for one of the principal defendants in this multi-handed drugs supply conspiracy; notable as during the course of the surveillance operation and whilst under surveillance, one of the co-defendants was shot.
  • R v Boston- Successfully applied to dismiss the case against the man of good character accused of being the “lieutenant” to the alleged organiser in a large scale drug- importation case.
  • R v Emin – Junior counsel in large-scale heroin importation involving covert surveillance; public interest immunity issues caused the case to collapse.
  • R v Hardy – Junior counsel for the Appellant in large scale South American cocaine importation and money laundering case, involving issues of Dutch law.
  • R v Anderson – Junior counsel. Organised facilitation of illegal immigration, involving the systematic entry of illegal immigrants over a period of weeks via aeroplane, dubbed “club-class” illegal immigration by the judge. Volumes of covert surveillance showed links to the notorious Turkish mafia, the “Baybasins.” Case raised major disclosure issues which were argued on appeal.
  • R v P – Junior counsel for defendant who faced multiple counts of rape, allegedly committed against his wife over a period of over a year against a background of threats and blackmail. Case involved multiple strands of expert evidence all of which was obtained by the defence, including from an immigration law expert, phone experts producing thousands of pages of call data records and cell-site analysis, medical experts, and a Sharia law expert.
  • R v S- Appeared for defendant facing historical allegations of sexual abuse against his step-daughters from different relationships. An abuse argument based on delay and the destruction of social service and police records led to the stay of some counts.
  • R v R & Others- An alleged “gang rape” of a woman on New Year’s Eve. Leave has been given to appeal, crucially on issues relating to identification.
  • R v S- Appeared for defendant accused of multiple rapes against his wife.
  • R v J & Another- Appeared for the father in child abuse case which centred on expert evidence. Organised an expert conference at which the prosecution were invited to attend, following which the prosecution offered no evidence.
  • R v B & Another– Conducted child cruelty and grievous bodily harm case relating to a small child suffering burns to 50% of his body by virtue of boiling water being poured over him. Involved large body of expert medical evidence on burns, clinical shock and mental health. There were multiple legal arguments on admissibility of evidence, notably of confession evidence.
  • R v Beadle - Perversion of the course of justice which centred on telephone tapping evidence carried out in prison; legal argument based on RIPA led to the exclusion of the main evidence in the case and therefore the acquittal of the defendant.

Associated Work

Professional Memberships

  • Criminal Bar Association
  • Young Fraud Lawyers Association
  • Association of Regulatory and Disciplinary Lawyers
  • Howard League Association for Penal Reform

Languages

Fluent in Spanish and French and has conversational Portuguese and Italian.

Contact

T. 020 7067 1500

E. cguiloff@25bedfordrow.com