Quentin Hunt is a criminal defence barrister who specialises in securing the speedy return of seized and frozen funds for his clients. He has written a guide to Police Property Act applications.

Ms RS was under investigation for offences of human trafficking and money laundering. As part of the police investigation, her property was searched and a large volume of cash was seized, totalling nearly £50,000. The money belonged to RS and her family.

Criminal Defence Barrister Quentin Hunt was looking after her interests at the pre-charge stage and was dealing with an application for the confiscation of the cash under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Following submissions made in those proceedings, the police decided that they would not seek forfeiture of the funds. However, they still purported to retain the money under their powers pursuant to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.

Quentin took the view that the police could not lawfully continue to hold the funds and that they were retaining the money illegitimately. He therefore made an application to the Magistrates’ Court under the Police (Property) Act 1997. Evidence was submitted to the court together with written pleadings.

Following correspondence with the court and the police, Quentin received notification that the police would not contest the return of the funds. Quentin ensured that the police notified his client in writing that the money would be returned. Once this occurred, he withdrew the court application and his client’s funds were returned in full.

RS was delighted.

If you find yourself in a position where the police are illegitimately retaining a large quantity of your funds, you may wish to take legal advice about getting the money returned.

Quentin Hunt is a criminal barrister who specialises in POCA and Police Property Act proceedings. He is regularly instructed to hold the police to account in respect of their handling of large quantities of clients’ funds. He accepts instructions both through solicitors and directly from members of the public under the Direct Access scheme. If you need assistance, you can contact Quentin for a free, no obligation discussion about your case.