Ben Gordon

"He's a little wizard with a great advocacy style." (Chambers UK, 2024)
'Ben is an absolute star. He always goes the extra mile and is wonderful to work with. He is hard-working and determined and his advocacy is intelligent and well-thought-through.' (Legal 500, 2024)

Specialist practice areas: Serious & Complex Crime, Fraud, Regulatory Proceedings (Professional Misconduct) and Police Disciplinary.

Since joining chambers as a first-six pupil in 2006 Ben has developed a busy and successful defence practice at every level of the criminal justice system. Whilst specialising in serious crime Ben also has experience practising in regulatory and disciplinary proceedings (professional misconduct). For a number of successive years now, Ben has re-attained his ranking in the field of serious crime both in the Legal 500 directory and in Chambers & Partners.

Ben has successfully defended his clients in matters ranging from murder and serious violence to organised crime, drug importation, money laundering, firearms, complex fraud and sexual offences and has successfully appealed against wrongful convictions (e.g. R. v. Hamilton & 41 others [2021] EWCA Crim 577) and excessive sentences (e.g. R. v. Malin (Sadiq) [2014] EWCA Crim 1651).

Last year, Ben represented Dawn O’Connell, a deceased former post master, in the Post Office/Horizon appeals. The injustice suffered by Miss O’Connell and others was so egregious that their case garnered interest and support from the national media and Members of Parliament. Miss O’Connell’s wrongful conviction was posthumously overturned as an abuse of the court’s process

Murder and Manslaughter

As junior counsel, Ben continues to appear regularly in homicide cases. In early 2020, Ben represented a young defendant who was acquitted of murder following an armed altercation on a busy London housing estate. Typically, the case involved technical evidence alongside emotive eye witness testimony.

In another example, Ben was led by Queen’s Counsel at the Central Criminal Court in a multi-handed gang-related murder trial in which his client was acquitted by the jury. The case involved extensive legal argument around changing areas of law such as the admissibility of evidence relating to gang membership as well as the doctrine of joint enterprise. In 2019 at the CCC, Ben represented a 17-year-old who was tried for the murder of another teenager. Similarly, in 2021, Ben was instructed in two lengthy murder trials.

Also, at the CCC in 2019, Ben represented one of three prison officers charged with gross negligence manslaughter following the suicide of a prisoner at HMP Downview. The trial attracted national media interest and resulted in the acquittal of the officers by the jury.

Robbery

Ben has successfully defended many clients charged with robbery at every level of the scale ranging from street muggings to armed cash-in-transits. While still a pupil at chambers, Ben appeared as stand-in junior counsel in the trial of the largest armed robbery in British history (the Securitas Depository in Tonbridge) as well as in the unprecedented jury-less trial of the armed robbery of the Menzies Depository at Heathrow airport.

Organised Crime, Money Laundering & Drug Importation

Ben appeared as junior counsel in the reported case of R. v. Thakrar [2009] Crim.L.R. 357, CA. In this case, the appellant’s conviction was successfully appealed on the grounds of unauthorised jury research into extraneous material.

Over the years, Ben has appeared on behalf of many defendants charged with the importation and supply of large quantities of drugs of all classes in trials which frequently involve proactive surveillance operations and expert telecommunications analysis. Similarly, Ben has successfully represented a number of alleged gang members charged with the possession of firearms and other serious and organised offending.

In 2019 at Worcester CC, Ben appeared as junior counsel in the trial of several men charged with committing a pre-planned acid attack on the young child of the first defendant. The offence and the trial garnered significant interest from the national media.

In 2021, as a leading junior, Ben successfully defended a young musician who was acquitted of Attempted Murder after a spate of tit-for-tat shootings related to the trade in illegal drugs in Harrow.

Serious & Complex Fraud

Ben has successfully defended in many fraud and dishonesty cases involving duty evasion, mortgage fraud, advance fee fraud, electronic credit diversion, car-ringing and benefit overpayment.

In 2014, Ben appeared at Swansea Crown court for the second defendant of nine charged with conspiring to defraud mobile phone customers through the sale of phoney insurance policies. The trial marked the conclusion of a five-year multi-agency investigation.

More recently, in 2015 and 2016, Ben has appeared as leading counsel in a multi-millions pound tax fraud trial at Swansea Crown court, as junior counsel in a substantial mortgage fraud trial at Winchester Crown court and an advanced fee fraud trial at Leeds Crown court. Also, appearing on his own in 2016, Ben successfully defended his client at Harrow CC in a multi-handed fraud trial concerning insiders from high street banks and fraudulently transferred electronic credits. Ben also conducted the follow-on trial at the CCC in 2017. In 2019, Ben represented the second defendant in a trial concerning the laundering of over $500,000 which had been embezzled by an employee of the high-street fashion label All Saints. Ben has appeared frequently in trials alleging large-scale VAT fraud and cheating the revenue.

In 2021, as a leading junior, Ben represented the first defendant in a trial concerning an organised crime group from south-east Asia. The group was found to be culpable for laundering the proceeds of Vietnamese-run cannabis cultivation across London and the south-east.

Human Trafficking & Modern Slavery

In 2017, Ben appeared at Nottingham Crown court in the trial of a traveller family (R v Rooney & ors), described at the time as the largest multi-agency investigation into modern day slavery or forced labour ever conducted in the UK. Multiple members of the family from Lincolnshire were tried with conspiring to require workers to perform forced or compulsory labour. At the time of conducting the trial, prosecutions under s.71 of the Coroner’s and Justice Act 2009 were relatively novel. Ben represented the wife of one of the principal defendants who, along with her sister, was one of a very small number of family members who were acquitted of all charges.

In 2018, Ben appeared on behalf of a vulnerable individual charged with the kidnap and false imprisonment of a Vietnamese cannabis grower who had been trafficked into the UK by a criminal gang. The witnesses were subject to the national referral mechanism and had been classified as victims of modern slavery.

Misconduct in Public Office

In 2018, Ben appeared as leading counsel at Maidstone Crown court in a well-publicised case. The trial concerned allegations of Misconduct in Public Office against four security officers from the Medway Secure Training Centre in Kent (for juvenile offenders). The allegations emanated from the production and airing of a BBC1 Panorama documentary in which an undercover reporter purported to have gathered evidence of the abuse and mistreatment of trainees at the centre. Ben’s client was acquitted of all charges. Ben has also successfully defended other prison officers charged with assaults on inmates.

Causing Death by Driving

This is an area of practice in which Ben specializes and he has successfully defended commercial HGV and public service vehicle drivers who have been charged following tragic and fatal collisions with cyclists and pedestrians. In 2018, Ben appeared as junior to Queen’s counsel at Reading Crown court and successfully defended an HGV driver charged with causing death by dangerous driving following a collision on the M1 motorway which resulted in eight deaths and serious injury to four others. The human cost of this tragedy was without precedent in English & Welsh jurisprudence. This is a specialist area of criminal litigation in which Ben has presented training seminars and worked with a number of eminent reconstructions experts.

Regulatory Proceedings (Professional Misconduct)

Ben has successfully represented nurses and other healthcare professionals at both the Nursing & Midwifery Council and the Health and Care Professions Council. Following successful hearings Ben’s clients have secured their ongoing registration and ability to practise unrestricted. Ben has also appeared at the headquarters of the Ministry of Defence Police Force (MDP HQ Wethersfield) to defend Police Federation members accused of regulatory offences.

Other

Ben invariably enjoys an excellent relationship with his professional and lay clients and is dedicated to the fearless and tenacious defence of those he represents.

Ben is co-secretary of the pupillage committee at chambers, a member of the tenancy committee and an enthusiastic advocacy trainer both at Furnival and for the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple.

Away from the bar Ben’s passion lies in his children and other friends and family, global travel, films, literature and all competitive sports.