Dr Felicity Gerry KC defended a young adult in a 7-week trial involving allegations of murder and attempted murder at a funeral at a mosque in Coventry in 2022. Although Felicity’s client was convicted, it was as an accessory, not a principal offender and the judge was persuaded to reduce the minimum term following the recent decision in R v ZA [2023] EWCA Crim 596 on the relevance of immaturity in sentencing offenders aged 18 to 25. You can read about Felicity’s case on the BBC here https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-66273537.amp

Last month, Ms Chaynee Hodgetts and Mr Darren Snow set up new and original practical mock inquest simulation training with QMUL and Blizard Institute Centre for Trauma Sciences. Held at the Education Centre of the Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel, London, it was attended by emergency medics from the UK and all over the world. Chaynee and Darren ran the mock inquest simulation teaching and training, assisted by a team of instructors in medicine, psychology, and human factors, to help clinical practitioners on the programme to understand their rights and responsibilities in medical inquest settings. The mock inquest training formed part of the Emergency & Resuscitation Summer School, led by Dr Libby Thomas at QMUL (itself part of the QMUL MSc Emergency & Resuscitation Medicine, led by Professor Tim Harris, and on which Chaynee is an Honorary Lecturer). Joe Brittan & Kai Hayes During Summer School, Chaynee and Darren led the training, in which Mr Joseph Brittan (Bar Course graduate) and Mr Kai Hayes (Year 1 LLB Undergraduate) – both of whom have undertaken mini-pupillages at Libertas with Ms Hodgetts – played the roles of Counsel for the NHS Trust and the family respectively. Over the course of two days of mock hearings, they put the team of emergency doctors, nurses, and paramedics to the test in examination  and questioning during the mock inquest simulation scenario. As Honorary Lecturer in Emergency Medical Law at QMUL and the Blizard Institute, Chaynee worked as part of the Faculty team for the full week of Summer School – and, when not leading mock court, assisted with teaching on the pre-hospital simulation scenarios and medical masterclasses. In addition to her work at QMUL, Chaynee is also Honorary Lecturer in Criminal Law, and Honorary Lecturer in Medicine (Medical Law), at Bangor University. With Libertas, her principal practice areas are criminal defence and inquests (including medical and mental health inquests). Outside of her legal practice, she has a keen interest in pre-hospital care and pre-hospital emergency medicine (PHEM). Having successfully completed the British Association for Immediate Care (BASICS) Pre-Hospital Emergency Care (PHEC) Course, she is also a volunteer First Responder with GoodSAM for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, regularly responding at scene to life-threatening incidents prior to the arrival of the London Ambulance Service. Mr Darren Snow came to the Bar from an initial career in the City, working for international insurers and Lloyds – and is a very experienced advocate in healthcare-related work, acting for doctors, nurses, midwives and paramedics. In the last few years, much of Darren’s work has been defending nurses and midwives before the Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) in misconduct and health cases. He has been instructed in a wide range of cases, including some of the most serious allegations of misconduct re patient death in clinical, mental health and midwifery practice, and allegations of assault against patients. The QMUL MSc in Emergency & Resuscitation Medicine is a unique online global course for doctors, nurses, paramedics and physician associates with expertise in emergency and resuscitation medicine – with course content including pre-hospital emergency medicine (PHEM), emergency medicine, trauma surgery and critical care, diagnosis, pathophysiology, resuscitation and toxicology, research methodology, legislation and ethics – and runs its practical clinical Summer School in London annually. More information about the QMUL & Blizard Institute MSc in Emergency & Resuscitation Medicine can be found here. Darren Snow guiding students through the course, with Chaynee taking the photo.

Smith, Hogan and Ormerod’s Essentials of Criminal Law, contributed to by Chaynee Hodgetts, has been released in print today. As the core Criminal Law textbook for many Undergraduate Law students nationally, the book is lead authored by Deputy High Court Judge Professor David Ormerod CBE KC and Professor John Child – joined, this year, for the first time, by Ms Hodgetts. Following her work on the accompanying digital resources in 2021 and 2022, this year, she also worked on the textbook itself, updating and editing across Chapters – and in the overall completion of the book, principally assisting Professor Ormerod CBE KC. Prior to practice, Chaynee spent over a decade as a University Law Lecturer and academic, leading on Criminal Law, Evidence, and Media Law, before being Called to the Bar in 2019. She is now Honorary Lecturer in Emergency Medical Law at Queen Mary University, London (QMUL) and the Blizard Institute, and Honorary Lecturer in Criminal Law and Honorary Lecturer in Medicine (Medical Law) at Bangor University. The 5th edition of Smith, Hogan and Ormerod’s Essentials of Criminal Law (Oxford University Press, 2023) can be ordered in print and electronically here.

The legal investment memo by Dr Felicity Gerry KC has led to ETC divestment. Justice for Myanmar issued a press release today on the latest moves in the Golden City investment scheme linked to the Myanmar military and the ETC divestment. The memo set out international law and guidance places due diligence obligations on the Singapore Exchange and possible liability on the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Singapore Government for companies doing business with the Myanmar military. Felicity was instructed by the Australian Centre for International Justice and led Daye Gang of the Victorian Bar Read the JFM press release https://www.justiceformyanmar.org/press-releases/etc-singapores-myanmar-divestment-raises-more-questions-for-singapore

Dr Felicity Gerry KC has assisted in drafting and supported a petition for a conditional pardon for 2 IPP prisoners. The petition was served on the Minister of Justice Alex Chalk MP by Dean Kingham of Rees Thomas Watson solicitors in association with UNGRIPP a campaign group on behalf of those affected by the now abolished and discredited indeterminate sentence for public protection system. The two applications served on 5 July 2023 on behalf of two IPP prisoners still in prison far beyond their original tariff set out requests for conditional pardons. The applications follow the Justice Select Committee’s recommendation to resentence all IPP’s and the more recent motion condemning the UK Government response to the robust JSC report. The Prison Officers Association, the Probation Institute and the British Psychological Society have all spoken about the IPP scandal. The petitions explain why it cannot be right that, having recognised IPP sentences cause psychological harm, no meaningful steps have been taken to address the situation for those affected. The petition calls on the Minister not to permit inhumane and degrading treatment through psychological harm to be caused to the IPP prisoners still in custody. It is submitted that the two applicants can be safely conditionally pardoned which means they remain convicted but can be released recognising that they have been sufficiently punished and thereafter detained beyond the just period of time in conditions that harm their health.

On Friday 7 July, Dr Felicity Gerry KC mitigated on behalf of Jarrad Spence Robinson at a sentencing hearing which led to a life sentence with a minimum term of 32 years for murder by stabbing and ENCRO Chat drug dealing. The case is of particular interest as during the course of the murder trial many witnesses refused to engage in the process and evidence of irrelevant social media posts was excluded. The case is the subject of an appeal. You can read more here https://www.mylondon.news/news/north-london-news/drug-dealer-living-life-luxury-27280904.amp Dr Felicity Gerry KC led Ishan Davé of Rose Court Chambers and was instructed by Sperrin Law

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