At New Park Court Chambers, we do things a little differently. With 70 junior barristers and 16 King’s Counsel, our reach and influence stretches far beyond the bounds of our Circuit.
As a Tier 1 Set based in Leeds and Newcastle we are home to a number of high profile and nationally and internationally reputable Counsel.
Robert Smith K.C. has had very considerable experience as a trial advocate in a wide range of criminal and regulatory cases and in civil litigation over a period of practice which now encompasses 55 years, having been called to the Bar in 1971. He has served as a Recorder of the Crown Court and a Deputy Judge of both the Queen’s Bench Division and the Chancery Division of the High Court and as a member of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board. He is a Bencher of Inner Temple, a Visiting Professor at the University of Northumbria and a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for Blackstone’s Criminal Practice.
He stands currently rated as a ‘Tier One Silk” by the Legal 500 for 2026 and as a ‘Star Individual – Crime’ by Chambers and Partners for 2026. His most recent high-profile cases have involved the prosecution of a number of very serious criminal cases, including Rex v Piran Ditta Khan (the murder of Police Constable Sharon Beshenivsky), representing Northwest Fire Control in the Manchester Arena Bombing Inquiry, and acting for James Edward Staley, former CEO of Barclays Bank Plc, before the Upper Tribunal on a reference from the Decision of the Financial Conduct Authority.
After a very long career as a trial advocate, Robert’s practice is now largely advisory. He specialises in providing advice to companies, board directors and corporate managers, medical practitioners and health care professionals, in a wide range of circumstances, including investigations by agencies such as the Serious Fraud Office, and regulators such as the Health and Safety Executive, the Financial Conduct Authority, the Independent Office for Police Complaints and the General Medical Council. He currently provides advice in response to investigations and enforcement by regulators and specific advice on issues such as corporate liability for bribery and corruption, allegations of professional misconduct and legal professional privilege. He accepts some pro bono instructions.
Rankings 2021 – 2026
Chambers and Partners 2026 – ‘Star Individual’ – Crime: “Robert is superlative at every aspect of the job.”
Legal 500 2026 – ‘Recognised as a “Tier One Silk”
Chambers and Partners 2025 – Crime: “Robert is the best of the best.”
Chambers and Partners 2024 – Crime: “He is a Guru of the Circuit.”
Chambers and Partners 2023 – Crime: “He is very experienced and has a very good reputation. He is a class act.”
Chambers and Partners 2022 – Crime: “Has significant expertise in homicide, corporate manslaughter, and health and safety cases. He is also particularly well-versed in medico-legal matters and demonstrates deep knowledge of human rights issues.”
Chambers and Partners 2021 – Crime: “Absolutely brilliant. His preparation is just beautiful.”
Robert was called to the Bar in 1971 and commenced practice on the North Eastern Circuit from 5 King’s Bench Walk in the Temple. These chambers produced many ‘high powered’ appointments to the Bench including Lord Justice Cumming-Bruce, Mr Justice Veale and Mr Justice Payne and he was privileged to begin his career there at a point when 5 King’s Bench Walk had just become a Circuit based set of chambers located in Leeds and where they have remained ever since, to eventually become New Park Court Chambers. Robert was Head of Chambers for approximately 20 years.
When he began his career, members of Circuit generally practised common law, which was multi-disciplinary. He saw criminal and civil practice in the last year of the Assize and Nisi Prius system before it was swept away with the reform of the Courts. He had the opportunity to see and to listen to advocacy at the very highest level and to be taught the discipline of the common law, involving both criminal and civil litigation and some specialised work. In the early days he was retained as junior counsel by the National Union of Mineworkers. As a junior he was led in many criminal cases by particularly able trial advocates such as Harry Ognall QC and Gilbert Gray QC. His notable early cases as a junior included the defence of the company secretary of Kagan Textiles before Mr Justice Roderick Smith and The Selby Caravan Murder before Mr Justice Caulfield.
Once appointed to Silk in 1986 Robert continued to conduct both criminal and civil litigation with a strong emphasis on serious personal injury cases and clinical and professional negligence. He was engaged in a number of notable civil cases, including acting for the victims of the Bradford City Football Stadium disaster in the successfully contested litigation before Cantley J at Leeds Crown Court and advising in relation to passenger claims in a number of notable aviation accidents. These included the East Midlands airport crash which involved a British Midland Boeing 737-400 which landed on the M1 motorway at Kegworth on the 8th January 1989 when the flight crew mistakenly shut down the one remaining good engine.
In recent years his professional work load has involved the prosecution and defence of complex and particularly serious criminal cases, with a particular emphasis on medico-legal and scientific issues, the defence and prosecution of professional defendants such as medical practitioners and health care professionals and the defence of corporate bodies, their senior managers and directors and senior executives in regulatory and civil proceedings involving agencies such as the Health and Safety Executive, the Serious Fraud Office and the Financial Conduct Authority.
His cases have involved a wide range of situations in which the criminal law has been engaged including scientific issues, aviation, industry, coal mines, railways, food and consumer safety, educational establishments, the pharmaceutical industry, newspaper publishing and medico-legal issues. His practice has been very broad in scope. He has acted on behalf of a major international news publisher in successfully resisting allegations of contempt of the House of Commons and for a major pharmaceutical company under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office and the Department of justice in the United States. He has conducted cases involving Human Rights issues in both the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords.
He has advised upon and conducted litigation in the field of regulatory criminal and civil law, in particular health and safety, bribery and corruption, and the prosecution and defence of corporate bodies particularly in the context of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 and the Bribery Act 2010, and related litigation, including civil actions involving the police, administrative court cases, extradition issues and cases involving misfeasance in public office.
He has had a particular interest in gross negligence manslaughter, particularly in the context of medical failings and cases involving non-accidental head injury in children. He has conducted a significant number of cases of fraud and alleged corruption, representing both individual and corporate defendants under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office. Some of these cases have involved a trans-Atlantic element and he is familiar with the practice of the US Department of Justice and the US Securities Exchange Commission in the context of the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the United States Exchange Act.
He is closely involved in presenting lectures and seminars on topics of current and historical legal and academic interest. Recent work includes presentations in respect of legal professional privilege in conjunction with the University of Northumbria in relation to reform of the law, sponsored by The Modern Law Review. He has regularly supported the North Eastern Circuit by providing guidance in lectures to newly admitted members of the Bar and seminars involving expert evidence.
Robert is currently writing for publication a history of advocacy spanning the period from the late 1700’s to the mid-war years which is focussed upon the techniques of the great advocates of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and their leading cases. Notable cases dealt with in detail are the trials of Sir Roger Casement (High Treason – 1916), the trial and appeal of Oscar Slater (wrongly convicted of the murder of Marion Gilchrist – 1909), and some of the major poisoning cases including Madeleine Smith, Florence Maybrick, and Adelaide Bartlett, and the achievements of some the very great trial advocates such as Norman Birkett K.C. (including his defence of Tony Mancini in the ‘Brighton Trunk Murder’).
Liability for murder/manslaughter arising from the infliction of injuries to an unborn child.
Now the leading case on the double jeopardy rule in criminal proceedings.
Foresight of consequences as proof of intent in murder.
Unfitness to plead and the implications of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Propriety of prosecution comment and cross examination on the issue of absence of motive for false
Review of commonwealth jurisprudence.
Guideline case on Article 3 ECHR and “whole life” terms of imprisonment.
Guideline sentencing case on life imprisonment – Transitional Provisions, Schedule 21, CJA 2003.
Joint enterprise in homicide.
Construction of Section 127(1)(a) Communications Act 2003.
Foresight of the reasonable and sober person in the objective assessment of the dangerousness of the unlawful act in manslaughter.
Sentencing in gross negligence medical manslaughter cases.
Sentencing in historic sexual abuse cases.
Statutory interpretation of section 3ZB of the Road Traffic Act 1988.
Orders by the Court Martial relating to the anonymity of an acquitted defendant originally charged with the murder of an insurgent in Helmand Province in Afghanistan.
Prosecution of five defendants at Leeds Crown Court before Lambert J for causing or allowing serious physical harm to a vulnerable adult contrary to section 5 Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004, together with associated offences of conspiracy to pervert the course of public justice and substantive charges of attempting to pervert the course of public justice. A complex prosecution based upon a range of expert medical opinion as to the cause of the victim’s injuries, which had rendered her permanently unconscious as a result of brain damage inflicted by the unlawful administration of the anti-diabetic agent, Glimepiride. The defendants appealed their convictions on the section 5 charge to the Court of Appeal which allowed the appeals on the ground that the prosecution had not proved the necessary element of foresight required by section 5. The case involves an important point of law. The prosecution has lodged Grounds of Appeal and an Application to the Supreme Court for leave to appeal from the judgment of the Court of Appeal.
Instructed on behalf of North West Fire Control Limited to represent the company in the Manchester Arena Bombing Inquiry.
Retained over a three year period on behalf of News UK to advise the company in relation to the investigation by the Metropolitan Police into the ‘phone hacking’ scandal. Investigation ultimately closed by the Crown Prosecution Service.
Retained to advise News UK in relation to the investigation by the House of Commons Committee for Privileges in relation to allegations of contempt of Parliament. Investigation ultimately closed by the House of Commons Committee for Privileges.
Retained over a three year period to advise GlaxoSmithKline Plc in relation to the Serious Fraud Office Investigation into bribery and corruption in China arising out of the conviction of the company’s subsidiaries in that jurisdiction. Investigation ultimately closed by the Serious Fraud Office.
Acted on behalf of Harron Homes Ltd in relation to an investigation and prosecution by the Environment Agency.
Acted on behalf of Mansel Davies & Son Limited in proceedings before Swansea Crown Court in relation to allegations of forgery and associated offences arising out of an investigation by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency.
This case was the first successful prosecution and conviction of a company for an offence of corporate manslaughter at common law [with linked HSWA charges against the company and the Chairman and Managing Director]. The defendant company was a firm of road tanker hauliers which failed to take proper action to protect the workforce from splashback of dangerous chemicals with fatal consequences.
Instructed on behalf of the company in circumstances which involved the death of an employee using escape equipment during a training exercise and giving rise to charges under section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
Defence of the company arising out of the death of a senior engineer engaged on maintenance work on a high rise garment picking system in warehouse premises. The prosecution was stopped at the conclusion of the prosecution case on the Judge’s ruling and on the ground that the prosecution were unable to establish a breach of the qualified duty imposed by section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
This was a major and complex prosecution for the Crown Prosecution Service and the Health and Safety Executive in respect of charges of manslaughter and breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 arising out of multiple fatalities on the West Coast main railway line at Tebay in Cumbria. The prosecution resulted in the conviction for manslaughter of the principal in a small business and his foreman. The case involved the deliberate disconnection of the braking system on flat rail bogies in order to permit them to be coupled to road/rail vehicles. As a result, the bogies ran away in darkness just south of Shap Fell and struck a railway work force which was carrying our maintenance work on the line causing the deaths of four men and multiple injuries to others. The convictions were upheld by the Court of Appeal.
Advised the DPP and HSE on complex potential prosecution arising out of a mercantile shipping fatality in Shoreham Harbour.
Instructed for the defence of the manager of Daw Mill Colliery in Warwickshire, being one of the largest coal mines in Europe. The defendant was a highly talented and experienced manager who faced charges in respect of manslaughter and alleged contraventions of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, arising out of the death of a Deputy who was overcome by methane gas during operations to re-open 101’s face for the purpose of salvaging powered supports. The case was evidentially complex, particularly from the point of view of the technical evidence. The prosecution case was demonstrated in the course of evidence at the Crown Court trial to be flawed to such an extent that it had to be abandoned by the Health and Safety Executive and Crown Prosecution Service before the conclusion of the prosecution case.
Instructed on behalf of the prosecution in proceedings against York College arising out of the death of a young child in their nursery who was caught up in a rope attached to a slide. The child’s death had occurred in the absence of supervision. York College was convicted at the conclusion of a trial at Leeds Crown Court before Coulson J.
Prosecution of a number of defendants for the motiveless murder of Police Constable Sharon Beshenivsky, a police officer on duty in the City of Bradford who was shot by one of the defendants in the course of the robbery of a travel agents. The co-accused were charged with murder on the basis of joint enterprise. The case also involved the attempted murder of PC Milburn, her colleague, who was also shot but survived. P C Beshenivsky and P C Milburn had answered a call to go to the travel agents just before they finished duty for the day and were shot on the pavement as the robbers emerged. The officers presented no threat to the defendants and the shooting was gratuitous. The one remaining defendant who escaped prosecution by fleeing the country and then remaining in Pakistan was the organizer of the robbery, Piran Ditta Khan. Extradition proceedings were commenced once it was discovered, 15 years after the event, that Piran Ditta Khan was living in North West Pakistan. A Resident Magistrate in Islamabad ordered his extradition to the United Kingdom once he was arrested. He was indicted on his return in respect of the murder of Police Constable Beshenivsky and associated charges of robbery and possession of firearms with intent to endanger life. The jury convicted him on all charges at the end of a 6 week trial at Leeds Crown Court, finally, after 18 years, convicting the last remaining member of the group.
Advised in relation to a long running investigation by Cleveland Police into the circumstances of the disappearance of Rachel Wilson on 31 May 2002. Rachel’s body was discovered by chance, ten years later, on the 27 June 2012, lying in a shallow ditch at the side of a farm track at Newham Hall Farm, which is adjacent to the B1635 Stokesley Road at Coulby Newham. Her body was decomposed as a result of the passage of time. She had been deposited at that location without clothing and without any personal possessions. No cause of her death was identified at the post mortem examination given the limited amount by way of remains and the absence of body tissue. Her identity was confirmed by DNA profiling and comparison. After a long and detailed police investigation the defendant was charged with her murder on the basis of complex circumstantial evidence and pleaded guilty to manslaughter immediately before his trial commenced. That plea was accepted by the prosecution in the absence of an ability to prove the precise mechanism which caused the deceased’s death.
Prosecution for murder and offences contrary to Section 5 Domestic Violence Crime and Victims Act 2004 arising out of the death of a young child in 2016. The case, which did not come to trial for a number of years, required required expert evidence from a range of clinicians and pathologists in relation to the disputed cause of death which was due to an inflicted abdominal injury.
Prosecution for murder and offences contrary to Section 5 Domestic Violence Crime and Victims Act 2004 arising out of the death of a young child in 2014 as a consequence of smothering. No cause of death was identified at the post mortem examination conducted at that time and the defendants were not at that time charged with any offence. Family Court proceedings resulted in the case being referred to the police and a complete reinvestigation as a result of the clear and persuasive conclusions reached by a forensic pathologist called in those proceedings. Once the police investigation commenced it required a detailed re-assessment of the original post mortem examination involving new experts in paediatrics, forensic odontology, paediatric pathology and forensic pathology from experts at the University of Aberdeen and in England. The defendant Garner was convicted of murder at Sheffield Crown Court and the child’s mother of an offence contrary to Section 5.
Instructed on behalf of the prosecution in one of the few cases of arsenic poisoning in England and Wales in the 20th century. The defendant was charged with the murder of her husband by arsenic poisoning. This was the first investigation by pathologists and scientists in the context of non-accidental arsenic poisoning for decades. Pathologists, toxicologists and scientists were required to refer to historical research on the effects of arsenic poisoning including analysis of the deceased’s hair. A hospital post mortem had determined that the deceased had died from natural causes. The case came to light as a result of the decision by the Coroner’s Officer to seize a bucket containing the deceased’s vomit and submit it for analysis. This resulted in a finding of a massive concentration of arsenic in the contents of the bucket which could not be explained other than by deliberate poisoning. The source of the arsenic was its concealment in a particular form of carrot cake (gajar ka halwa) which the deceased had a liking for. The deceased was exhumed and his hair analysed to reveal significant concentrations of arsenic. Motive was established. The defendant was convicted of murder and appealed unsuccessfully to the Court of Appeal.
Instructed to represent the prosecution before the Court of Appeal in a case involving a review of expert medical evidence relating to the death of the wife of a medical practitioner. Anthony Vickers was a general practitioner who was successfully prosecuted for the murder by Harry Ognall QC (later to become Mr Justice Ognall) instructed on behalf of the DPP. Vickers was alleged to have administered a drug (CCNU – Lomustine) to his wife, being a drug which was ordinarily used in the treatment of cerebral tumours. One of the side effects of the drug is the destruction of blood platelets and consequent anaemia. His wife died as a consequence of gross haematological disorders caused by the administration of the drug. The case was heard by the Court of Appeal 12 years after Vickers’ conviction when he presented fresh medical and expert evidence to the Court. The fresh medical evidence was rejected and the conviction for murder upheld.
Prosecution for the murder of a nurse at Pinderfields Hospital Wakefield. The prosecution alleged that the defendant shot her with a semi-automatic firearm in a public car park in the course of an act of jealous revenge. The defence was one of diminished responsibility based upon ‘Gulf War Syndrome’. The defendant was a doctor employed at the hospital who had seen service with the SAS and the RAMC and who had had a distinguished military career, latterly in the first Gulf War. He had brought back from the Iraq war an AK47 firearm which he had concealed and which he had used to kill the deceased. His medical defence that he suffered from an abnormality of mind as a consequence of ‘Gulf War Syndrome’ was rejected by the Jury and he was convicted of murder.
Prosecution for the murder of a police officer and the attempted murder of another police officer in the City of Leeds by the defendant using a self loading pistol. The defendant was an American citizen who denied responsibility for the murder. He was sentenced by Moses J at the end of his trial at Newcastle upon Tyne to a whole life term. The case was referred to the Court of Appeal in respect of the human rights issue of whether a whole life term was compatible with Article 3 ECHR. The principle of whole life imprisonment was upheld by the Court of Appeal as consistent with Article 3 ECHR although a specified minimum term substituted.
Successful defence of a woman responsible for killing her partner by the infliction of multiple axe wounds to the head. The deceased was a sexual pervert who, over an extensive period of time had demanded that the defendant should engage in various extreme sexual activities with him and with other men both publicly and in private. The defendant took a fireman’s axe and struck the deceased over the head with it while he was kneeling, blindfolded and handcuffed and with a gag in his mouth in the bedroom of their home. The deceased had asked the defendant to handcuff him as part of the sexual activity which he had insisted upon. The defendant went on to inflict 17 further blows to the head of the deceased with the axe and then draped her suspender belt over the remains of the deceased’s head. The defence advanced on her behalf was provocation/defence of another [her daughter] and that the defendant was suffering from battered woman’s syndrome arising from the deceased’s persistent depravity. The defence of self defence was rejected by the jury but the defendant was acquitted of murder and convicted of manslaughter on the ground of provocation. She was sentenced to 5 years’ imprisonment for manslaughter which was reduced on appeal to 3 years’ imprisonment.
Prosecution of a general practitioner charged with the murder of three of his patients by the use of excessive doses of morphine and other drugs. All of the patients were either dying or in advanced stages of fatal illness. It was alleged by the prosecution that the defendant had hastened their deaths by administering strong opiates. The case involved the application of two important legal principles. These were: (1) the ‘but for’ principle in terms of causation and (2) the rule of “double effect.” The defendant was acquitted by the jury in respect of all three charges.
Instructed on behalf of the prosecution to advise and thereafter to conduct the prosecution of a male staff nurse in relation to the alleged murder and attempted murder of elderly patients in hospitals operated by the Leeds National Health Service Trust. The five patients in question had all been admitted to hospital for surgical repair in respect of fractured hips. They were all elderly. One of these patients died in circumstances which gave rise to analysis of the deceased’s blood and which showed that she had a massive quantity of exogenous insulin in her body which would have resulted in a hypoglycemic coma There followed an investigation of all suspicious deaths of this nature at these hospitals.
The five patients the subject of the charges had all suffered sudden and unexplained hypoglycemia. None of them was diabetic. There was evidence that insulin had disappeared from the ward fridges. The defendant, Colin Norris was working on the wards at the material times when they died. Colin Norris was convicted in respect of all five patients. The Court of Appeal reviewed and dismissed a first appeal against conviction. In May 2025 the Criminal Cases Review Commission brought a further appeal against conviction based upon fresh expert evidence. The Court of Appeal dismissed the conviction.
The prosecution of a member of the Chinese community resident in Newcastle upon Tyne for the murders of two Chinese students in the City. Their deaths were particularly brutal. The likelihood is that the murders were carried out by way of retribution for non-compliance with orders given by a Chinese gang involved in an internet betting fraud.
Unsuccessful defence of a man who was by occupation a chef – charged with murder – stabbed the victim to death and then removed sections of his flesh which was seasoned with herbs and then cooked with olive oil and eaten. Unsuccessful defence of diminished responsibility based upon a dissociative state due to confused sexuality. Court of Appeal [the Lord Chief Justice] – confirmed that the starting point for “cannibalism” was 30 years.
Prosecution at Leeds Crown Court of a serial killer of prostitutes in Bradford. The defendant was responsible for dismembering and eating parts of their bodies.
Prosecution at Newcastle upon Tyne Crown Court of the two accomplices of the notorious Raoul Moat. Ness was convicted of being a party to the murder by Moat of Christopher Brown. Ness and Awan were each convicted of being parties to the Attempted Murder of Police Constable David Rathband, shot on duty by Raoul Moat while the two defendants waited in a getaway car. Both defendants were also convicted of conspiracy to murder police officers and armed robbery.
Prosecution of two prisoners responsible for the murder of a fellow prisoner in a cell at Frankland prison. The defendants cut open the abdomen of the deceased with the intention of eating parts of him. Both defendants were in custody in respect of offences of murder and attempted murder. The psychiatric state of one of the defendants resulted in the acceptance of a plea of guilty to manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility. The other defendant [Parr] pleaded guilty to murder.
Prosecution of a consultant urological surgeon charged with the manslaughter by gross negligence of a 32 year old patient at Bradford Royal Infirmary.
Prosecution of a defendant who caused the death of a man in the course of sado masochistic activity involving penetration of the rectum and sigmoid colon with instruments, including a wooden rolling pin and an electric toothbrush. The actions were found by the jury to have caused the death of the deceased after the wall of the colon was ruptured and material that had been introduced into the colon as a lubricant had entered the deceased’s blood stream. The deceased had suffered many injuries by way of burns and cuts to the penis some of which had been inflicted after death. The defence case was that the deceased had consented to the activity in question and that it had not been ‘dangerous.’ The case resulted in consideration of the decision in R v Brown [1994] 1
A.C. 212 and a number of subsequent authorities. The defendant was charged with and convicted of ‘deliberate and unlawful act’ manslaughter and an offence of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Leave to appeal was refused on the basis that the law as it stood, and as defined by the House of Lords, did not require review.
Prosecution for murder arising from the disappearance of a woman named Janet Brown some 12 years before trial. The defendant was eventually charged with and convicted of her murder. The case involved complex circumstantial evidence and the application by Northumbria Police of the protocol for the investigation of missing persons. The deceased had booked space on a car ferry to France for a holiday. She left her dog in the care of a friend and left her home, seemingly to go on holiday. She never returned. Her family received postcards from France informing them that she had taken up residence abroad and was in employment there. Extensive enquiries were made via Interpol and various international agencies, ferry and airline operators. The defendant could be shown to have travelled to France at or about the time when the postcards had been sent to Ms Brown’s parents. The defendant was proved to have obtained without authority all of Ms Brown’s substantial cash deposits and to have defrauded her elderly parents. The deceased’s body was never found, despite extensive searches by Northumbria Police of areas of farmland occupied by the defendant.
Succesful defence of the father of an 11 week old baby charged with causing her permanent brain damage and disability by shaking. The case involved the so called “triad” of signs. The defence case was that the signs were due to infection with herpes simplex virus. The prosecution case and the diagnosis by paediatricians was demonstrated to be flawed. The prosecution was abandoned after extensive investigation of expert evidence during trial and the concession by a prosecution clinician, in evidence, that he could no longer contend that the child had not died from natural causes.
Successful defence of a mother charged with murder/manslaughter of her ten week old baby. The case involved the so called ‘triad’ of signs ie subdural haemorrhage, retinal haemorrhage and swelling of the brain. The prosecution advanced the conventional theory that the ‘triad’ was ‘diagnostic’ of shaking – the defence case was that this was systemic infection. Particular focus was directed to the fact that the baby had been vaccinated some days before her collapse by nursing staff who had not sterilised the area of skin where the vaccination was performed. The jury were unable to agree at the conclusion of the first trial. The prosecution abandoned their case against the defendant at the commencement of the second trial.
Successful defence of a father charged with causing grievous bodily harm to his child [permanent and serious brain damage]. The prosecution case involved an allegation that the baby had been shaken. The defence case was that this was pertussis infection. The case involved complex evidential issues relating to haematology, ophthalmology and neuro-radiology.
Successful defence of a young mother charged with manslaughter by shaking her baby. The baby was born prematurely and was suffering from lung disease. He was permanently in receipt of oxygen and suffered from apnoea. The prosecution based their case on the ‘triad’ of signs and claimed that additional features of the eye pathology lent further support to the triad and that the evidence supported the conclusion that the subdural bleeding, retinal and optic nerve sheath haemorrhaging and hypoxic ischaemic brain damage was due to an act of shaking. The case involved contested paediatric and neurosurgical evidence on both sides.
I have conducted numerous prosecution cases involving NAHI in children and those involving prosecution pursuant to section 5 of the Domestic Violence Crime and Victims Act 2004.
Prosecution of five members of a family who lived in Huddersfield with the wife of one of the defendants. The prosecution’s case was that the victim was a vulnerable adult within the meaning of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act. She had been subjected to serious physical harm in the property by one or more of the defendants and was then poisoned with the anti-diabetic drug glimepiride. The defendants (with one exception) were convicted by the jury of offences pursuant to section 5 of the Act and all defendants were convicted of conspiracy to pervert the course of public justice. The defendants appealed their convictions for the section 5 offence to the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal quashed the convictions on the basis that the ‘foresight’ provisions in section 5 of the Act were not satisfied. The prosecution has entered Grounds of Appeal to the Supreme Court and an Application for leave to appeal is pending a decision by the Supreme Court.
Succesful defence of a well-known Solicitor practising in the North East of England who was charged with attempting to pervert the course of public justice. The actions of Durham Police involved listening to a private and potentially privileged consultation between PD and his client using remote monitoring equipment which had been installed by Durham Police in such a way that the Police could eavesdrop on the conversation after the defendant and his client had been left together in the Interview Room where an interview under caution had just been conducted. The officers involved were responsible for numerous breaches of good practice. Their credibility was in tatters after an abuse of process hearing by way of a voir dire in a trial listed at Leeds Crown Court before Sir Geoffrey Grigson. Application to stay the proceedings as an abuse of the process of the Court on the ground that the conduct of the Police amounted to “directed” and “covert” surveillance within RIPA 2000 and was conducted without lawful authority. The prosecution was abandoned after the police officers gave evidence. There was a concurrent issue arising out of unlawful searches of the defendant’s home by Durham police exercising inappropriate powers under Section 32 PACE – and involving the seizure of computers without a Special Procedure Warrant and the reading of legally privileged files.
Successful defence of the chairman of a major public company (FTSE 250) for alleged personal contraventions of an Improvement Notice. The case brought by the Health and Safety Executive failed after submissions were made on the defendant’s behalf that Sections 36 and 37 HSWA were inapplicable since: (i) causation was required to be proved (ii) in the absence of an ability to lift the corporate veil the acts or omissions of the accused were only within the scope of his authority as chairman of the holding company and the default lay with its subsidiary company.
Retained on behalf of the Chairman and Sales Director of a particularly successful company (subsidiary of Close Brothers) engaged in the sale and leasing of commercial vehicles. The directors and two of their managers were charged with particularly serious common law offences including an offence of conspiracy to defraud the Traffic Commissioners of Great Britain arising out of the use of Operator Licences issued by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (now DVSA). The case involved a considerable body of technical evidence. It was tried at Leeds Crown Court over a 5 month period. Both defendants together with the two managers were acquitted by the jury at the end of this long trial.
Achieving your ambition – Appointment as Queen’s Counsel and the route to get there.
General Criminal Law:
Health and Safety:
Published book reviews in equestrian literature:
Published Equestrian Articles:
A series of four articles on the Principles of Lightness in Equitation under the title of:
“légèreté and the French Classical Tradition”
Part 1: The Meaning of légèreté
Part 2: The Refinement of légèreté
Part 3: True and False “Lightness”
Part 4: Lightness – Continuing the Tradition
“Preserving the Carthusian Horse – a profile of Antonio Dominguez Galiano and ‘Los Tercios’ stud” [published in Horses for Life magazine Issue Number 65] and translated into Spanish.
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