Felicity Gerry KC and Umar Shahzad are instructed in an application to appeal to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom after a refusal of permission to appeal in joint enterprise murder. The application argues that the decision in Hussain & Fiaz on 16 June 2023 wrongly lowers the conduct element and wrongly removes causation as well as creating a presumption of knowledge in joint enterprise murder. It is suggested that there has been a misinterpretation of the Accessories and Abettors Act 1861 and a failure to follow the UK Supreme Court decision in R v Jogee. The consequence is punishment of those who make no contribution to the crime which leads to a grossly disproportionate sentence contrary to Art 3 and 7 ECHR . It is also argued that the refusal itself is a breach of Article 6 ECHR . The application to appeal on questions of general public importance has been referred to the Registrar who has requested a reply by the prosecution. A copy of the Application to the Supreme Court can be viewed here. Felicity and Umar are instructed by Kamran Yousaf of Rees Clayton Solicitors Ltd.

Darren Snow recently chaired this high-profile police disciplinary tribunal. The panel reached a finding of gross misconduct following a 7 day hearing and a dishonesty finding. They stated that had Ms Lee still been a serving police officer, she would have been dismissed without notice from the police service. Former PC Lee faced charges in respect of breaches of policing standards connected to failures in her initial investigation of an indecent exposure allegation linked to Wayne Couzens, the convicted murderer of Sarah Everard.  This case attracted a lot of Media attention and was widely reported. The indecent exposure allegations against Couzens were made by staff at a McDonalds drive-through, who had witnessed him expose himself on two occasions, had his car on CCTV and had copies of his credit card receipts. Despite that evidence no action was taken to progress the investigation in the days that followed. The final incident occurred only days before Couzens committed the murder of Sarah Everard. Darren has been sitting as legally qualified chair on police misconduct hearings for a number of years. He is a highly respected specialist in professional disciplinary defence work. Darren also sits as a member of the Bars disciplinary tribunal and for several Sports regulators handling a mix of disciplinary and safeguarding work. A sample of the media reports on this case: Former Met Pc guilty of gross misconduct in Wayne Couzens flashing probe | Evening Standard Former Met PC barred from service for life over Wayne Couzens indecent exposure inquiry | Metropolitan police | The Guardian Met PC banned from serving in police after found guilty of gross misconduct in Wayne Couzens probe | ITV News London Wayne Couzens: Ex-Met PC in flashing case guilty of gross misconduct – BBC News

Darren Snow, instructed by Mark Brown, of Brysons Solicitors, recently secured the acquittal of their client “AB” in a trial at Wood Green Crown Court, in respect of historical allegations of rape within the family. Both Complainant and Defendant were now in their late 20s and the allegations, first made in the Summer of 2020, went back to before either were teenagers. The case was sensitive as the Complainant gave evidence with an intermediary and suffered Autism and was borderline Aspergers. The Defendant also had a history of behavioural problems going back to childhood. Their mother was a prosecution witness. The Defendant was of good character. A detailed review of the Complainants historical medical evidence revealed a lack of any concerns, complaints or safeguarding issues in childhood. A review of phone and social media also revealed a potential motive for making false allegations in 2020. By time of trial the Defendant had been on bail facing these allegations for nearly 3 years.

The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) is a UK-based international accountancy membership and standard-setting body. Darren has been appointed to sit on their independent regulatory panel which deals with regulatory and disciplinary cases against is members. CIPFA is the professional body regulating public finance professionals. It has 14,000 members working throughout public services, national audit agencies, major accountancy firms, and in other bodies where public money is managed. For further information on CIPFA see their website. Darren’s appointment builds upon his wide experience in professional disciplinary work.  He is a leading specialist defending in professional disciplinary work across a wide range of professions. He has been ranked in the Legal 500 as a leading junior for several years. He combines his defence practice with appointments as chair on police disciplinary tribunals and a wide range of safeguarding and disciplinary panel work for sports regulators. He has also sat on the Bar’s disciplinary panel for several years. For further information on Libertas’s professional disciplinary team and experience please speak to our clerks who will be happy to help you.

In April 2023, we co-hosted a workshop as part of an innovative research project led by Dr Gina Vale at the University of Southampton on Counter-Terrorism and ‘Digital Human Trafficking’. The project is ongoing and explores ways in which trafficked persons may be identified in terrorism investigations and how the non-punishment principle might operate in that context. You can read more about the project here  https://www.southampton.ac.uk/research/projects/counter-terrorism-digital-human-trafficking

James Walker defends in Operation Uvrou, a counter terrorism command investigation at the Central Criminal court for 10 weeks. Instructed by Sarah Housley of Cunninghams Lythgoe Caplin Ltd.   https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/apr/24/businessman-plotted-to-intimidate-lawyers-with-fake-bombs-jury-hears https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/bomb-plot-trial-old-bailey-barristers-jonathan-nuttall-b1076250.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12007167/Lawyers-helped-Britains-FBI-confiscate-1million-targeted-bomb-plot-court-hears.html https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/two-barristers-targeted-fake-bomb-29798996 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/nca-old-bailey-national-crime-agency-london-romsey-b2328112.html https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/jonathan-nuttall-wife-amanda-explosives-barristers-2023-b58pm283b https://www.legalcheek.com/2023/04/3vb-barristers-targeted-in-grays-inn-fake-bomb-plot/

CCC – SA – Murder (Retrial – January 2023) The defendant, a man of good character, accepted that as a result of a bizarre set of circumstances he had mistakenly assumed that an innocent pedestrian may have taken his friend’s phone when they were both out one night in central London. The defendant confronted the victim and the following altercation with him resulted in his fall to the pavement causing him to sustain catastrophic injuries from which he died 6 months later.   The defendant accepted that he caused the victim to fall and pleaded guilty to unlawful act manslaughter, however the Prosecution tried him for murder. The first trial resulted in a hung Jury but the retrial resulted in an acquittal for the allegation of murder. After the conclusion of the second trial the defendant’s father who had attended throughout the two trials said; “Jon Anders is a fantastically talented barrister with an eye for detail and a phenomenal memory, second to none. He works tirelessly for his clients and is empathetic and approachable at all times. Having Jon on your side is a very definite plus and an enormous advantage”. The solicitor was Ms Kerry Spence at Hodge Jones & Allen.   See media coverage: (https://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/man-convicted-manslaughter-after-fatal-26176875)

Jon Anders – February / March 2023 The defendant was charged with a violent disorder during which three people were stabbed. The stabbings were serious, one of them being regarded as life threatening. Surprisingly no charges reflecting the stabbings were brought but the seriousness of the allegation of violent disorder was elevated as a result. The case was largely based on CCTV evidence. The Prosecution was made aware by the Defence of a significant error in the purported identification of the defendant which was accepted. The defendant was acquitted following a trial lasting 4 weeks. The solicitor in the case was Natalie Miller at Abbey Solicitors in Manchester.   (See media coverage: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/cardiff-incident-violence-south-wales-police-b1759828.html).