Matthew Hardcastle

Matthew’s specialty is in pre-charge investigations and litigation. Matthew has particular experience acting in high-profiles matters, including cases involving members of the media, the entertainment industry, professional athletes, politicians, and regulated individuals. Matthew is also a member of the Prosecution Oversight Panel of the RSPCA.

Matthew has acted in a number of the most significant investigations of the past five years and has established himself as one of the country’s leading specialists in Sexual Misconduct in the Workplace investigations providing advice to both companies and individuals.

Matthew regularly acts for regulated individuals and company officers facing a criminal investigation, including in a number of significant SFO investigators and prosecutions. Matthew also acts for young people accused of serious criminal offences.

Matthew combines his practice with academic work and he is the author of the leading practitioners’ texts on providing advice during a criminal investigation. He is the co-author of three books on police station law and procedure (Defending Suspects at Police Stations; Advising the Suspect; and Blackstone’s Police Station Handbook); the co-author of Legal Action Group’s Police Station: Update; and on the editorial review board of The Criminal Law Review. 

During 2018, Matthew was appointed as a Specialist Advisor to the House of Commons Justice Select Committee for their inquiry into the Disclosure of Evidence in Criminal Cases. 

recent cases

2019-2020

• Representing an Executive Committee Member of a multi-national company during an internal investigation.
• Providing specialist advice to leading law-firms and chambers in relation to Sexual Misconduct in the Workplace investigations.
• Representing internationally famous members of the film and TV industry in relation to #MeToo allegations.
• Representing regulated individuals accused of Sexual Misconduct in the Workplace.
• Providing advice and assistance to senior officers in regulatory matters.

2018 – 2019

• Representing a senior member of the finance industry during an SFO investigation.
• Representing a professional athlete accused of the sexual assault of a television personality.
• Representing a prominent entertainer accused of historic sexual offences.
• Representing regulated individuals accused of dishonesty offences.
• Acting as the disclosure officer in a private prosecution.

Earlier

• Representing a former CEO in an SFO prosecution.
• Representing a banker accused of fraudulent trading.
• Representing a legal executive accused of sexual assault.
• Representing a client in a complex ‘land-banking’ and ‘Carbon Credit’ fraud.
• Representing a political candidate accused of an offence under the Representation of the People Act 1983

Professional memberships and societies

• Young Fraud Lawyers Association (YFLA)
• Commercial Fraud Lawyers Association (CFLA)
• Editorial Board, The Criminal Law Review (Sweet & Maxwell)
• Committee Member, London Criminal Courts Solicitors’ Association (LCCSA) 
• Specialist Advisor to the House of Commons Justice Select Committee (for the Eleventh Report of Session 2017-19: Disclosure of Evidence in Criminal Cases).

PUBLICATIONS, Press Highlights and Speaking Engagements

Books 

• Defending Suspects at Police Stations (8^th Edition) (Legal Action Group).
• Advising the Suspect (Legal Action Group).
• Blackstone’s Police Station Handbook (Oxford University Press).

Periodicals

• Police Station: Update (Legal Action Group).

Articles

•  The Changing Status of the Defence Solicitor (The Criminal Law Review: Crim. L. R. 2016, 11, 830 – 843).
• COVID-19: Managing health and risk whilst in police custody (The Law Society Gazette).