Criminal Law

LLB (Hons) Leeds University 1981-1984; Hughes Discretionary Prize 

Inns of Court School of Law 1984-1985

Pupil of J Scott Wolstenholme (now HHJ Wolstenholme) at No. 6

Exclusively Criminal and predominantly for the defence in serious sex and violence cases, often as Leading Junior.  Also regularly instructed to prosecute murder cases as Leading Junior or alone

Called to the Bar July 1985 Lincolns Inn

North Eastern Circuit

Committee Member and subsequently chair of Friends of Leeds, a fundraising group for two Church Housing Trust homeless hostels in Leeds

R v Mubarek & Others - Defended in High publicity "honour" killing 

R v Grigg-Booth - Defended Nurse accused of murdering and poisoning patients

R v Horne - Defended 14 year old accused of murdering a baby

R v Russell and Others - Represented chairman of Scarborough FC in Leyland-Daf finance fraud

R v Francom and Others - Defended in Widely publicised "shallow grave" murder

R v Hussey - Prosecuted woman who murdered her grandmother for an inheritance

R v Hussain - Prosecuted in arson of Manningham Ward Labour Club during the Bradford Riots, trapping 24 people inside

Recently appeared successfully for the defence in the reported Court of Appeal case of R v P [2010] EWCA Crim 2243; 174 JP 582.  Important decision about the public element in the common law offence of Outraging Public Decency