At the Customs and Excise Prosecutions Office Conference in December 2003, there was an obvious willingness for HM Customs to get its house in order following the damaging collapse of a number of cases due to flawed informant procedures.
After the fiasco of the London City Bond (LCB) cases, which resulted in a £2bn loss of revenue and 109 convictions being over-turned, this is long overdue. Mr Justice Butterfield’s report following the LCB cases highlighted several failings in the procedures adopted by HM Customs, particularly in the way that the service handles informants.
