Praised by senior members of the judiciary for the eloquence and persuasiveness of her advocacy and attention to detail, Charlotte has been referred to by those against whom she appears as ‘an iron fist in a velvet glove’. Tenacious and always in command of her cases, Charlotte has a direct, no nonsense manner whilst remaining friendly and approachable.
Charlotte is frequently instructed as both leading and junior counsel specialising in a wide variety of criminal work including homicide, serious violent and sexual crimes, cases involving children and vulnerable defendants and witnesses, drug offences, fraud, human rights law and courts martials.
Prior to coming to the Bar, Charlotte spent three months as a ‘Stagaire’ at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
Charlotte is licenced to receive instructions direct from the public and is an accredited pupil supervisor.
R v S – (St Albans) Murder – 17-year old defendant with history of depression accused of aiding and abetting the murder of her ex-partner.
R v K – (Reading) Murder – Crown accepted plea to manslaughter on the basis of provocation after defendant suffered years of abuse at the hands of his partner.
R v R – (Snaresbrook) Kidnap, false imprisonment, blackmail and torture – R and two others accused of holding complainant hostage, stripping, binding and beating him. R accused of drilling holes in victim’s arm. Defence of mistaken identity and alibi. At the first trial, defendants 1 and 2 were convicted; jury unable to decide on R. At re-trial, Crown relied on cell site evidence which undermined the alibi. R acquitted.
R v M – (Central Criminal Court) Aggravated burglary – Gang of teenagers accused of breaking in to complainant’s home and stabbing him. M maintained that he had remained outside the premises, unaware of what had occurred inside. M had the complainant’s blood on his trainer. M acquitted.
R v N – (Snaresbrook) Possession of firearm with intent to endanger life – Complainant claimed N had come to his house and threatened him with the gun. Police took a statement from N’s ex-partner in which she claimed that around the time of the offence N had turned up at her house and showed her a gun. She refused to attend court to give evidence. Crown allowed to read her statement under hearsay provisions. N acquitted.
R v W-E – (Southampton) Aggravated burglary – Defendants broke into drug dealing victim’s home before beating him with baseball bats and incapacitating him with CS gas. Two defendants leapt from fourth storey window on arrival of the police.
R v G – (Sheffield) Kidnap, false imprisonment, possession of firearms, money laundering – Leading counsel representing the main defendant accused of kidnapping a heroin addict at gun point over the alleged loss of £30,000 of heroin.
R v H – (Winchester) Conspiracy to rob – H accused of conspiracy to commit a series of armed robberies throughout south west England.
R v M – (Wood Green) Violent disorder – 14-handed violent disorder where defendants accused of being part of a gang which started the riots in Tottenham in August 2011 following the fatal shooting of Mark Duggan.
R v T – (Southampton) Rape – T accused of taking part in a gang rape during which the incident was recorded on a mobile phone. T accepted involvement but claimed incident was consensual. Acquitted.
R v M (Croydon) – Rape – M accused of raping his partner. Acquitted once it was established she believed he was going to report her to the Home Office for being an over stayer.
R v W – (Canterbury) Voyeurism – W accused of secreting a camera in his 14-year old daughter’s bedroom having previously bought her sex aids. Police declined to take a statement from the complainant’s 18-year old sister because she gave evidence that did not support the Crown case. Acquitted.
R v A – (Inner London) Rape and indecent assault – Deaf defendant with only partial sight in one eye charged with nine historic sexual offences. Deemed unfit to stand trial. Jury found the acts alleged on all nine counts to be unproven.
R v M – (Taunton) Rape – M and complainant both boarding at school run by Mencap for young people with learning difficulties. Following representations, Crown offered no evidence.
R v K – (Inner London) Rape – K charged with multiple rapes and assaults on his partner when on license for murder. Crown accepted pleas to two assaults and discontinued the rape allegations. K sentenced to a determinate sentence of 38 months imprisonment.
R v R – (Basildon) Sexual assault – Taxi driver accused of sexually assaulting female passenger. Crown offered no evidence following cross-examination of complainant and her friend.
R v H – (Luton) Rape – 17-year old defendant accused of raping 15-year old girl. Crown offered no evidence after complainant admitted under cross-examination that H had stopped when she asked him to.
R v W – (Kingston) Conspiracy to supply – W accused of conspiring to supply 129 kilograms of high purity heroin.
R v W – (Woolwich) Conspiracy to supply – Firearms dealer involved in a conspiracy to supply the largest consignment of ecstasy tablets ever seized by the Metropolitan Police.
R v H – (Reading) Drug importation – Importation of 80kg of cannabis and 10kg of cocaine from Jamaica in a consignment of yams. H alleged to have been in control of the operation from Jamaica. Audio probes secreted inside the shipment when intercepted at Heathrow.
R v H – (Newport) Offering to supply – H pleaded guilty to supplying two undercover officers class A drugs at Bestival. Suspended sentence imposed.
R v U – (Kingston) defendant of good character with learning difficulties and schizophrenia accused of benefit fraud – acquitted following disclosure requests which uncovered that her partner who had been using her address to run up debts had been defrauding the DWP for 27 years.
R v M – (Harrow) Conspiracy to burgle – Leading counsel in 8-handed conspiracy to steal industrial safes across London and the south east.
R v G – (Southwark) Conspiracy to defraud – Conspiracy to defraud Ministry of Defence. G employed by a company engaged to develop a submarine base at Davenport Docks; alleged to have produced paperwork on which the fraud was based. Acquitted.
Member of the Inner Temple, Criminal Bar Association and South Eastern circuit.
King’s College, London (LLB)
