Civil and criminal cases increasingly rely on investigative surveillance evidence to reach their verdicts. This evidence has become so conclusive that many cases do not even proceed to court, with parties prepared to settle beforehand, saving both time and money.
But surveillance evidence has to be gathered in accordance with strict guidelines to ensure it is fully admissible in court. The Surveillance Group fully understands the laws and regulations that apply to surveillance and the gathering of information. Our investigations are legally robust and fully admissible in any court. In the 17 years that we have been operating in this field, we have never had any footage omitted or disallowed from proceedings. We also enforce strict ethical guidelines in our surveillance.
Surveillance evidence gathered by our operatives is regularly used to settle personal injury claims, providing clear, timely proof of a claimant’s injuries. This has assisted our clients to arrive at an early settlement for valid claims; and given them compelling footage to challenge fraudulent claims.
On a global basis, Surveillance Group teams play a key role in the worldwide fight against the trade in illicit and counterfeit goods. Our operatives work on behalf of major brands and law enforcement agencies to counter serious and organised crime.
Via social networks, our innovative Netwatch software is assisting some of the world’s largest companies to assess the impact of illicit trade on their businesses. Netwatch generates front end intelligence, which allows us to target entire criminal supply chains, and identify countries that are particularly affected by this illegal trade. We can then deploy our resources shrewdly to gather video evidence that will support the prosecution of these criminal gangs and identify the proceeds of their crimes.
Surveillance Group is committed to deliver the most successful surveillance solutions for our corporate clients. For customers who wish to handle claims internally, we have created a series of licensed software options that allow our cutting edge technology to be utilised in-house. Netwatch software is not only used to profile suspected fraudsters, prior to instructing surveillance, but also to deliver timely information on incidents, often within hours of them happening. It is exceptionally effective at discovering hitherto unknown witnesses, as well as images.
Our specialist analysts, all drawn from legal or intelligence backgrounds, play a key role in the development of our software. Their involvement ensures Netwatch absolutely meets the needs of surveillance experts, and has led to an increasing number of high level law enforcement and government agencies relying on both our managed and licensed solutions in order to support their evidence gathering procedures.
Evidence gathered by the Surveillance Group has been instrumental in securing successful contempt charges in a multitude of legal cases. These include a first landmark case in the High Court. Many cases have resulted in custodial sentences both for the claimants and for those who sought to provide false supporting evidence.
The following cases are a small selection where our evidence has played a critical role:
