Katie Wheatley

Partner and Head of Crime, Fraud and Regulatory Law. Katie is experienced in dealing with investigations and proceedings that are initiated by bodies such as the police, Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), and professional and State Regulators. Katie also has special expertise in private prosecutions. With over 25 years’ experience and unique expertise and tactical judgment, Katie has been retained in a wide variety of legal matters, involving allegations of both financial and general crime such as fraud, bribery and corruption, money laundering, complex high-profile general crime cases, sexual offences, homicide, inquests and cases with an international dimension. Katie is experienced in defending people accused of committing offences connected with their work or who are subject to allegations that are related to their private lives that may threaten their career. She acts for clients in many sectors including banking, broking, insurance, professional services, education, public sector, manufacturing, engineering, sport, charities and NGOs, healthcare, journalism, and media and entertainment. Katie also acts for and advises employees, directors, trustees and organisations in a business crime context, with experience of corporate manslaughter, gross negligence and unlawful act manslaughter, Health and Safety. Katie acts for individuals and organisations who are designated Interested Persons at Inquests. She has established a particularly strong reputation for advising journalists and media organisations, especially in investigations relating to their work, breaching of reporting restrictions and contempt, arrests, searches, production orders, protection of journalistic material, whistleblowing, the Official Secrets Act, and undercover operations. She regularly advises about the intersection of the criminal law with the work of journalists and hosted the Bindmans / UCL debate ‘State Security v Press Freedom’, which explored the implications of new anti-terror legislation on the work of journalists. She has also given talks to the National Union of Journalists explaining how The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) applies to journalists. Katie has extensive experience of representing clients with vulnerabilities, including brain injury or mental health conditions. Katie has special experience in advising in connection with allegations that relate to end-of-life decisions such as encouraging and assisting suicide, and ‘mercy killings.’ Her diverse caseload also spans acting for individuals and businesses in cases involving allegations of breaches of government regulations that can be prosecuted in the criminal courts, like those relating to property/houses of multiple occupation, fire safety, planning, and tree preservation. She is regularly asked to speak at conferences; recent topics Katie has spoken on include white-collar crime, the legal definition of dishonesty, and journalism and public interest in criminal proceedings. · Bindmans LLP