Nick Staite

1952-2024)

We honor the memory of the great Nick Staite, (1952-2024) an extremely competent prosecutor, legal scholar and a great friend to Stream House and a number of our experts.  We miss him greatly and remember the wonderful conversations we had with him and the great work he did for several agencies in Africa and beyond. His love for the work and his passion for Africa was infectious.  Grateful to you Nick.



Nick read Jurisprudence at the University of Oxford and trained as a Solicitor, in London.  After practising for a few years in medical negligence and personal injury law, he moved to a firm in rural Oxfordshire and dealt with all types of litigation, developing an interest in advocacy and a lawful inclination towards crime.

He soon began a dedicated career in public prosecution (joining the Crown Prosecution Service at its inception, in October 1986), leaving it almost 30 years later.  After performing the role of Branch Crown Prosecutor (lawyer/manager) for 12 years, he qualified as Solicitor-Advocate (Higher Courts - Criminal) and resumed as a full-time lawyer, leading a Special Casework Unit before taking a post in the Complex Casework Unit for CPS East of England.

He has a wealth of experience in advising the police before and after charge in large-scale investigations, then managing the prosecution of them in the Crown Court.  He handled serious homicides, drug trafficking, frauds, money laundering, conspiracies and people smuggling.  Many of his cases involved, at home and abroad, urgent restraint of assets, pre-charge; and confiscation of assets after conviction. 

As a CPS trainer, he delivered vocational and practical training to colleagues and police on Homicide, Fraud, Hi-Tech Crime, Mutual Legal Assistance and the statutory provisions for the Disclosure of Unused Material.  He also mentored aspiring Crown Court advocates and provided advice and guidance on covert policing techniques, the use in evidence of call data from communication service providers and the management of complex, multi-faceted, multi-jurisdiction cases.

From January 2015 to July 2020, Nick was engaged as a Technical Adviser in Malawi’s Ministry of Justice, working closely with the Director of Public Prosecutions on cases of fraud and serious and organised crime, then in the Anti-Corruption Bureau.  His work contributed to introduction of the precursor to a formal plea-bargaining framework and review of a national prosecution policy.  He supported development of routine use of money laundering and asset recovery laws, as well as delivering training in fraud investigations and prosecutions and mutual legal assistance.  In response to significant cases of illegal wildlife trade, Malawi being a porous-bordered transit state, he also provided advice in cases of ivory smuggling, with international elements.  Foreign exchange crossing Malawi’s borders in large volumes, Nick was involved in attempts to address the problem, by the Reserve Bank of Malawi and the Malawi Revenue Authority. 

Vita

Based in -

1952-2024)

We honor the memory of the great Nick Staite, (1952-2024) an extremely competent prosecutor, legal scholar and a great friend to Stream House and a number of our experts.  We miss him greatly and remember the wonderful conversations we had with him and the great work he did for several agencies in Africa and beyond. His love for the work and his passion for Africa was infectious.  Grateful to you Nick.



Nick read Jurisprudence at the University of Oxford and trained as a Solicitor, in London.  After practising for a few years in medical negligence and personal injury law, he moved to a firm in rural Oxfordshire and dealt with all types of litigation, developing an interest in advocacy and a lawful inclination towards crime.

He soon began a dedicated career in public prosecution (joining the Crown Prosecution Service at its inception, in October 1986), leaving it almost 30 years later.  After performing the role of Branch Crown Prosecutor (lawyer/manager) for 12 years, he qualified as Solicitor-Advocate (Higher Courts - Criminal) and resumed as a full-time lawyer, leading a Special Casework Unit before taking a post in the Complex Casework Unit for CPS East of England.

He has a wealth of experience in advising the police before and after charge in large-scale investigations, then managing the prosecution of them in the Crown Court.  He handled serious homicides, drug trafficking, frauds, money laundering, conspiracies and people smuggling.  Many of his cases involved, at home and abroad, urgent restraint of assets, pre-charge; and confiscation of assets after conviction. 

As a CPS trainer, he delivered vocational and practical training to colleagues and police on Homicide, Fraud, Hi-Tech Crime, Mutual Legal Assistance and the statutory provisions for the Disclosure of Unused Material.  He also mentored aspiring Crown Court advocates and provided advice and guidance on covert policing techniques, the use in evidence of call data from communication service providers and the management of complex, multi-faceted, multi-jurisdiction cases.

From January 2015 to July 2020, Nick was engaged as a Technical Adviser in Malawi’s Ministry of Justice, working closely with the Director of Public Prosecutions on cases of fraud and serious and organised crime, then in the Anti-Corruption Bureau.  His work contributed to introduction of the precursor to a formal plea-bargaining framework and review of a national prosecution policy.  He supported development of routine use of money laundering and asset recovery laws, as well as delivering training in fraud investigations and prosecutions and mutual legal assistance.  In response to significant cases of illegal wildlife trade, Malawi being a porous-bordered transit state, he also provided advice in cases of ivory smuggling, with international elements.  Foreign exchange crossing Malawi’s borders in large volumes, Nick was involved in attempts to address the problem, by the Reserve Bank of Malawi and the Malawi Revenue Authority.