Polly Dyer
“Polly is a lethally intelligent, hard-working and fantastic advocate. She is unstoppable. Chambers UK, Financial Crime 2025
“Polly shows remarkable prowess and ability and she is a courageous advocate.” Chambers UK, Crime 2025
“She is fantastically hard working, very clever and very organised. A great advocate.” Legal 500, Business and Regulatory Crime 2025
“ Incredibly hard-working and astute, she is a confident and skilled advocate with a considered and tactical approach.” Legal 500, Crime 2025
Renowned as both an advocate and an advisor, Polly Dyer is highly respected and in high demand across the market. Her expertise in commercial crime is equalled by her expertise in general crime, inquests and regulation, and her counsel is sought by individuals, corporates, governments and NGOs alike.
Since the outset of her career, Polly has been recognised for her particular capacity to cut through issues in the largest and most complex cases. Over the years, the Directories have identified her as “a machine”, “unstoppable”, and having “an incredible ability to digest and dissect any case at impressive speed”. Equally, they note that she is valued by clients for her “approachability”, “authenticity” and ability to be both “sympathetic and strong when she needs to be”.
In her element on her feet in court, Polly is “a lethally intelligent and fantastic advocate” of “remarkable prowess and courageousness”. The Directories also regularly employ words such as “calm, collected, measured, detailed, diligent, confident, unflappable and skilled” in respect of her advocacy.
Her “tactical approach” to cases, coupled with her “good instincts and sound judgment”, means Polly is frequently instructed pre-charge in cases of all sizes. Clients, both lay and professional, find her to be “bright, creative and very responsive”. She is applauded as “highly cerebral” whilst also always “delivering readily understandable advice” that is “clear and concise”.
Polly has specialised in cases brought by the FCA, SFO, HMRC and Insolvency Service since the outset of her career and has a wealth of experience of allegations of insider dealing, bribery and corruption, complex fraud, cheating the revenue and large-scale money laundering. She has encyclopaedic knowledge of disclosure in large-scale investigations, LPP, the obtaining of material from other jurisdictions and matters relating to asset restriction. She is respected as an expert in all areas of POCA, both civil and criminal, having written and presented consistently on all manner of freezing, detention, forfeiture, restraint and confiscation, and been instructed to appear in POCA proceedings at all levels up to the Court of Appeal.
Polly is among the cadre of advocates to have maintained a stelar reputation on both sides of the court. Her CV includes presiding over an internal investigation within the FCA, acting on both sides of private prosecutions, advising the Solicitor General of Scotland in relation to appeals before the Supreme Court, and representing the Anti-Corruption Commission of the Seychelles before its Supreme Court. Polly has always been able to use to her in-depth knowledge of prosecuting, and prosecuting authorities, to great effect when defending.
In the general criminal sphere, Polly has extensive trial experience in all manner of offences, including murder, rape, GBH, misconduct in public office, drug supply, serious driving offences, domestic abuse, and any number of offences, big or small, affecting professional people – from MPs, prominent businesspeople and doctors, to actors, musicians and entertainers. Polly also has very considerable expertise in representing police officers and senior military personnel in criminal cases.
Polly is highly sought-after by individuals, families, corporates and government agencies alike to appear at inquests. Past clients include a US baby sling company, the UK Gambling Commission, the Metropolitan Police, the family of a Red Arrows pilot, the family of an Army helicopter pilot killed in Afghanistan, the families of students and road traffic victims and numerous medical professionals, including a GP at the ‘Jeremy Kyle’ inquest, where his actions were not held to be causative or contributory.
Polly has also consistently appeared in all manner of regulatory proceedings since the start of her career. She has considerable experience of medical regulatory tribunals, and particular expertise in financial services regulation, representing firms and individuals in both FCA disciplinary and other contentious regulatory contexts.
Ongoing and recent cases include:
- Advising corporate in respect of bribery allegations uncovered during internal investigation.
- Advising finance director in respect of SFO bribery investigation.
- Appearing in SFO’s prosecution of CFO and members of the finance team resulting from the collapse of Patisserie Valerie.
- Appearing in inquest considering safety of MoD vehicles.
- Prosecution of MP accused of sexual assault.
- Defence of murder at Notting Hill Carnival.
- Advice to a multinational based abroad in relation to fraud and copyright offences.
- Advising finance director in respect of an ongoing SFO bribery investigation.
- Appearing in SFO’s prosecution of CFO and members of the finance team resulting from the collapse of Patisserie Valerie (R v Marsh & Others).
- Advised a corporate in respect of a bribery allegation uncovered during internal investigation.
- Defended a retired colonel, the former deputy director of the Government’s covid task force, who was acquitted of fraud relating to allowances claimed during his service period to help fund his children’s education (R v Reedman). This was the first case of its kind to be heard in a criminal court, as opposed to before the Courts Martial.
- Acting for a senior individual within a company in a private prosecution for fraud brought by his employer (R v Asplin & Others).
- Chosen by a barrister to represent him in his trial for conspiracy to defraud relating to an application for costs.
- Instructed by the Anti-Corruption Commission of Seychelles, in a case concerning allegations of corruption and money laundering and which is the largest prosecution brought in the Seychelles. The case involved the obtaining the Seychelles’ first worldwide restraint order, the use of multiple requests for mutual legal assistance, and the introduction of the use of digital forensic evidence to the Seychelles’ courts. Polly appeared in the Supreme Court, Constitutional Court and Court of Appeal in the Seychelles.
- Advised an internationally based corporate in respect of copyright offences and fraud
- Advised two offshore directors and their five companies in respect of a HRMC investigation into alleged VAT evasion, and the inter-relationship with a tax investigation in another jurisdiction.
- Acted in numerous applications made pursuant to POCA, including being instructed after conviction to deal with the confiscation proceedings, and in relation to property and cash seizure, account freezing orders and forfeiture applications. Currently acting for a corporate in relation to the continued detention of a multimillion-pound piece of art.
- Advising an individual in relation to the discharge of a restraint application made by UK authorities on behalf of US authorities.
- Advised in relation to the enforcement of a foreign confiscation order.
- Acting for multiple corporates in respect of Companies House prosecutions of their UK directors.
- Instructed in relation to a Libor case being heard in the US concerning a request for mutual legal assistance (R v Connolly & Another).
- Provided advice in relation to the ENRC litigation.
- Counsel in an insider dealing case brought by the Financial Conduct Authority (R v Mohal & Others).
- Acted as junior counsel in Operation Cotton, one of the largest criminal prosecutions ever undertaken by the FCA, where defendants were charged with conspiracy to defraud and FSMA offences in relation to land banking (R v Crawley & Others).
- Counsel in a prosecution of individuals for a number of FSMA offences arising from the promotion and sale of shares (R v Moore & Others).
- Prosecuted a company and individual on behalf of HMRC for cheating the public revenue (R v Bet Ltd & David Park).
- Acted in cases brought by the Insolvency Service for breaches of the Companies Act.
- Instructed by both the FCA and individuals in relation to financial regulatory matters. This has included in relation to proceedings before the Regulatory Decisions Committee of the FCA and bodies governing financial professionals.
- Asked to assist the FCA, leading a team of barristers in a complaints team investigation and assisted for a period of time within the Criminal Prosecutions Team.
- Assisted a bank with a regulatory project in relation to anti-money laundering.
- Acting for a business in relation to a closure notice.
- Acting for a company that provides a wedding venue in relation to noise abatement notice appeals.
- Appearing in inquest considering safety of MoD vehicles.
- Represented a doctor in the ‘Jeremey Kyle’ inquest, where no causative link was found between the actions of the medic and the death concerned.
- Represented a US based baby sling manufacturer at an inquest, where their products were exonerated as being a cause of an infant's death.
- Represented a mining company at an inquest, at which no direct causative link was found between their activities and the death concerned
- Instructed on behalf of the Gambling Commission when they appeared as an interested person in an inquest involving a suicide.
- Represented the deceased’s family in the inquest into the death of Flt Lt Sean Cunningham, a red arrow pilot.
- Represented a GP in an inquest concerning a death at a care home.
- Represented a prison doctor in an Article 2 inquest.
- Represented the family in the inquest into the death of Captain Thomas Clarke, a pilot who was killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan.
- Represented the family in an inquest where due to inadequacies in the investigation, there were questions about the manner of the deceased’s death.
- Represented families in numerous inquests arising from road traffic incidents
- Prosecution of MP accused of sexual assault.
- Defence of murder at Notting Hill Carnival (R v Thibou).
- Acted in numerous cases of misconduct in public office involving police officers and prison officers. This has included prosecuting a prison officer for an inappropriate relationship with Jordan McSweeney (R v Jones).
- Defended multiple professionals charged in relation to violent and sexual offences.
- Defence counsel in a case concerning historic indecent assault allegations. The defendant was acquitted of all 11 counts, which concerned 10 complainants (R v Lant).
- Acted in numerous serious and complex criminal cases, including cases of murder, possession of firearms with intent and large-scale drug importation offences.