Two devices resembling bombs were planted outside a lawyer’s chambers in a plot to ‘alarm and embarrass’ him, a court has heard.
Andrew Sutcliffe KC and another senior lawyer, Anne Jeavons, were targeted at Mr Sutcliffe’s chambers at Gray’s Inn – England’s legal heartland, the Old Bailey heard.
The incidents in September 2021, allegedly formed part of a ‘grudge campaign’ concerning a money-laundering case more than a decade old.
The pair were put under surveillance before packages designed to resemble explosive devices were left near to their offices, it is said.
Catherine Farrelly, prosecuting, told the court: ‘These devices were left with a quite clear objective – to cause serious panic, thereby drawing significant attention.
‘The objective was accomplished: buildings were evacuated, roads cordoned off, and a large number of police officers attended the scene.’
She added the devices were also intended to cause Mr Sutcliffe ‘alarm, distress and public and professional embarrassment.’
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The prosecution argues businessman Jonathan Nuttall, 50, holds a ‘deep-seated grudge’ against the senior lawyer.
Mr Nuttall is accused of recruiting his driver Michael Sode, 58, to act as a middleman with Michael Broddle, 46, who placed the devices on a bench.
It is further claimed that Mr Broddle’s sons Charlie, 18, and Joshua, 20, were involved in the scheme.
The incident has its roots in a case from 2011, when Mr Nuttall was under investigation by the National Crime Agency as part of an alleged money laundering conspiracy.
As Ms Farrelly explained: ‘In 2015, the NCA had instructed Andrew Sutcliffe to conduct the legal proceedings flowing from that investigation into Jonathan Nuttall and others.
‘Later, in 2017, the NCA had instructed a second barrister in Andrew Sutcliffe’s chambers to work alongside him on the case, Anne Jeavons.’
Jurors heard that in April 2019, an order was signed for more than £1 million worth of assets to be recovered from Mr Nuttall’s wife.
Mr Nuttall was angered by the prospect of public embarrassment and damage to his reputation as a result of the order, prosecutors claimed, and directed his animosity toward the two lawyers on the case.
The court heard how the Broddles allegedly carried out research and surveillance on Mr Sutcliffe and Ms Jeavons in the six months before the devices were planted in September 2021.
Other incidents were described by prosecutors as part of a ‘targeted campaign of intimidation and public embarrassment.’
This allegedly included attempting to leave a threatening note outside Mr Sutcliffe’s home, addressed to a female relative, which said the lawyer should ‘stop digging his own grave or you will be raped whilst we dig up (another relative’s grave).’
The trial continues.
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