Charlotte appears in the Crown Court regularly for both the defence and prosecution in cases involving violent offences, fraud, offensive weapons and the supply of drugs, particularly those raising issues of human trafficking and modern slavery.

Her performance and professionalism has been described by those who instruct her as “next to none”. Her commitment as defence counsel is “first class”. She has an excellent work ethic, sound judgement and integrity. Her written work has been commended in open court by the judge as “of the highest quality”.

She achieved recent success in the Court of Appeal on an appeal against sentence for dangerous driving.

Charlotte is a CPS Level 2 advocate. She has gained particular experience in cases of fraud, including complex cases investigated by HMRC.

Charlotte has experience representing individuals and companies in matters under the Trade Marks Act, the Food Safety and Hygiene Regulations and Fire Safety Regulations. She has appeared as a led junior before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.

Appeals

R v Khan Ibrahim [2019] EWCA Crim 1202,Court of Appeal – successful appeal against a 14-month sentence for dangerous driving and false plates imposed on a 20-year-old at Reading Crown Court. Found to be manifestly excessive and reduced to 10 months.

R v M [2019] Court of Appeal – Charlotte assisted in drafting an advice and grounds of appeal against conviction on a novel point of law, the extent to which lying about being a doctor undermined the consent to botox injections which had resulted in grievous bodily harm. The appeal resulted in the appellant’s sentence being halved.

R v Z [2019] Kingston Crown Court – secured an absolute discharge on appeal against sentence, with no order for compensation, for a client previously ordered to pay over £300 for travelling on a bus without a valid ticket.

R v C [2018] Basildon Crown Court – conditional discharge obtained on appeal against sentence for three charges of theft and failing to provide a specimen, for which a community order with a three-month tagged curfew had originally been imposed.

R v W [2018] Wood Green Crown Court – successful appeal against a restraining order in a dispute between neighbours which banned the appellant from the road on which he also resided, which would have rendered him homeless on his release from prison.

Notable Cases

R v H [2019] Woolwich Crown Court – suspended sentence of 15 months’ imposed for dangerous driving, actual bodily harm, possession of cocaine and failing to provide a specimen. The judge commented that the defendant was “lucky to have you as his counsel”.

R v N [2018] Woolwich Crown Court – represented a vulnerable defendant for sentence in a £100,000 benefits fraud committed over 7 years, achieving a result well below what was expected on the sentencing guidelines, a “direct result of her advocacy skills and ability as counsel”.

R v W [2018] Kingston Crown Court – sentence for a 23-year-old defendant for perverting the course of justice. 10-week period of custody imposed described by the judge as kept to the shortest possible in the circumstances, reduced in light of the personal mitigation put forward.

 

Qualifications

• Bar Professional Training Course, Very Competent, City Law School [2017]
• LLM, Distinction, University College London, [2016]. Dissertation on ‘Consent and Deception under the Sexual Offences Act 2003’
• Graduate Diploma in Law, City Law School [2015]
• MA, Classics and Philosophy, University of Cambridge [2012]

 

Awards

• Winner of OUP-BPP National Mooting Competition [2015]
• BPTC Exhibition Award, Inner Temple [2016]
• Runner-up, Blackstones/University of Hertfordshire Criminal Advocacy Competition [2016]

Previous Experience

Prior to joining chambers, Charlotte volunteered with the National Centre for Domestic Violence, interviewing clients and drafting witness statements for without notice non-molestation and occupation orders.

Charlotte previously wrote for the UK Human Rights Blog, run by 1 Crown Office Row. She has also delivered workshops in secondary schools on the meaning of consent in sexual offences in the criminal law as part of the lawyer-led initiative the Schools Consent Project.

Publications

Charlotte worked as a research assistant at the British Institute of International Law on their 2014 report, International Access to Justice: Barriers and Solutions, J Beqiraj and L McNamara (Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law Report 02/2014), International Bar Association.

Languages

• English
• French (working)