Murder
R v NB & Another, Oxford Crown Court 2021 – Lisa was led by Jon Swain in this allegation of murder, after a young drug dealer was stabbed to death in a quiet residential area.
R v NH & Another, Warwick Crown Court 2020 – Lisa forced the Crown to concede an Application to Dismiss on an Assisting an Offender (wanted for murder) allegation after seeking to exclude admissions made by the defendant in breach of PACE 1984.
R v MS & Another, Central Criminal Court 2019 – Lisa was led by Charlie Sherrard QC in this allegation of murder arising out of a neighbour dispute over drug dealing in a residential block in London.
Serious Violence & Dishonesty
R v RJ, Wood Green Crown Court 2021 – the defendant faced allegations of Possession of a Firearm with Intent to Endanger Life in a road rage incident. He was acquitted of all charges after legal arguments re the sufficiency of forensic evidence were submitted.
R v FJ, Chelmsford Crown Court 2021 – the defendant had used the dark web to obtain a regular supply of Class A drugs. He had also arranged delivery of a semi automatic handgun and ammunition.
R v RO, Wood Green Crown Court 2019 – RO accepted slashing the complainant in the face with a machete but claimed self defence. Despite, RO’s previous convictions for drug dealing, possession of a firearm and a silencer, he was acquitted. The case involved substantial arguments re disclosure and non-defendant bad character.
R v PM & Others, Wood Green Crown Court 2019 – Lisa was led by Charlotte Yarrow in this allegation of armed robbery. The case involved multiple s78 arguments relating to social media content, assertions of gang membership and the impact of cellsite evidence.
R v SQ & Others, Luton Crown Court 2018 – Lisa led Sophie Sharpe in this 8 handed case that revolved around gang culture, drill music and a drive by shooting. SQ was accused of providing the firearm that was used to shoot two complainants on a residential street. The case required complex arguments regarding the admissibility of WhatsApp messages, non-conviction bad character and the confines of s98 CJA 2003. After a 3 month trial, SQ was acquitted on all charges.
R v BO & Another, Snaresbrook Crown Court 2018 – BO was accused of using the dark web to import firearms into the UK from Spain. The defendant had been identified as a result of a pro-active investigation by the police. The case involved a 86,000 pages of computer evidence involving bitcoin transactions and police surveillance.
R v JK & 4 Others, Southwark Crown Court 2018 – JK was accused of violent disorder in an incident involving two men fighting with knives in Brixton underground station. JK was one of three defendants acquitted by the jury.
R v DS, Blackfriars Crown Court 2017 – DS was accused of two counts of robbery using a firearm to pistol whip both complainants.
R v EB, Wood Green Crown Court 2017 – EB was accused of a s18 stabbing outside a Turkish banqueting suite. EB claimed that he had stabbed the complainant in defence of his brother, who had been pistol whipped by the complainant seconds before. EB was acquitted by the jury.
R v MW, Blackfriars Crown Court 2017 – MW stood accused of a s18 stabbing which had occurred at an AA meeting. The jury accepted MW’s account that he had run into the kitchen to grab a knife, brandished it and stabbed the complainant because he panicked not because he intended to cause really serious harm.
R v CS, Inner London Crown Court 2016 – CS was acquitted of a charge inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent and the alternative charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm. She had bitten part of the complainant’s finger off in a confrontation about an ex-partner but had acted in lawful self-defence.
R v KM & Another, Snaresbrook Crown Court 2016 – KM was accused of conspiracy to commit theft in an ‘inside job’ at the bookmakers she worked at. The prosecution alleged that she was part of a trio who had organised a ‘robbery’ of the premises. The case involved marshalling a large amount of telephone evidence and complex arguments re the admissibility of bad character.
R v AS & Others, Aylesbury Crown Court 2015 – Lisa defended one of four defendants jointly accused of false imprisonment and robbery in a revenge attack which involved threats to drill into the complainant’s knee caps.
R v VT & Others, Central Criminal Court 2014 & 2015 – Led junior in a three-handed manslaughter by flight. The case raised complex issues re the correct application of the principles of causation, specifically foreseeability and remoteness. The case also raised issues of expert evidence on language/dialect, blood spatter and DNA.
The defendant’s conviction for this matter was successfully overturned at the Court of Appeal and a retrial. After a second conviction the Court of Appeal again granted leave to appeal the rejection of the half time submission.
R v HH & Others, Aylesbury Crown Court 2014 – The defendant was accused of two counts of witness intimidation in that he was said to have threatened to blow up the houses of two complainants who had allegedly been shot by his family members months earlier. They were all tried together in a 6 week trial, during which there were further allegations of witness intimidation and jury intimidation. Of the 6 defendants, Lisa’s defendant was one of only two to have been acquitted.
Drugs & Money Laundering
R v VL & Others, Inner London Crown Court 2021 – Lisa was led by Tyrone Silcott in the prosecution of a Brazilian OCG who supplied chemsex drugs in the Kent area.
R v SD & Others, Kingston Crown Court 2019 – Lisa represented SD for the second time, being led by Nick James in another class A drug conspiracy. The case involved complicated arguments re the overlap of differing conspiracies, the distinction between s98 and the bad character provisions and the admissibility of cell site evidence.
R v SD & Others, Bristol Crown Court 2018 – Lisa represented SD who was accused of playing a crucial role in a county lines drug conspiracy.
R v TJ & 4 Others, Inner London Crown Court 2018 – Lisa was led by Terry Boulter in this case which revolved around a county line drugs running into the Surrey area. TJ was accused of leading the operation and the Crown relied on a massive amount of call data and cell site material to put TJ in possession of the numerous drug line handsets. The defence team had to marshal complicated disclosure issues and legal arguments tackling the impact of potentially overlapping conspiracies.
R v AK & Another, Birmingham Crown Court 2017 – Two Turkish men were accused of attempting to smuggle over £200,000 of drug money out of the UK. AK explained that they had been transporting gold bullion across Europe legitimately. Both were acquitted by the jury.
R v JK & Others, Croydon Crown Court 2017 – The prosecution were forced to offer no evidence during a conspiracy to supply class A trial after Lisa’s successful 6 day s78 argument using R v Boardman. Lisa’s client was said to be the leader of the conspiracy. The trial against three other defendants continued but as a result of Lisa’s argument the telephone evidence against them was ruled to be inadmissible.
R v AA, Canterbury Crown Court 2016 – Lisa defended in this allegation of Class A drug importation. The defendant claimed he had travelled back from Calais with Class A drugs under duress – his family members had been threatened by a local gang. The defence relied upon psychological evidence to show that the defendant had a particularly low IQ and was highly suggestible. The defendant was granted special measures to ensure his effective participation in his trial.
R v TR, Woolwich Crown Court 2016 – Lisa defended this vulnerable defendant who had an extremely low IQ. She was accused of possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply. She explained that the drugs found in her home had come from a friend of hers who had a robbed a local drug dealer. The defence relied on expert psychological evidence to help explain her unusual account and accused the police of misconduct. TR was acquitted of all counts – both possession and possession with intent to supply.
R v SB, Reading Crown Court 2012 – Lisa was led in this conspiracy to supply class A drugs. The Crown alleged that SB was involved in an operation to import shipments of cocaine hidden within carbon fibre yams.
Fraud & HMRC Offences
R v DD & Others, Southwark Crown Court 2021 – Lisa defended DD, a lorry driver who was found to have transported £1.5 million’s worth of contraband cigarettes. Lisa’s legal argument prevented the Crown from adducing the defendant’s Belgian convictions for exactly the same activity.
R v EL & Others, Inner London Crown Court 2021 – the defendant was part of an OCG that cloned TFL travel cards. Due to quick preparation and negotiation, EL received a suspended sentence for his activities.
R v TE & Another, Manchester Crown Court 2017 – Lisa was led by Mark Fraser in this £2 million conspiracy to defraud which revolved around a ‘rogue trader’ operation, perpetuated on a very large scale. An entire company was accused of defrauding its customers at every stage of its business – advertising, delivery, fitting and customer service.
R v WJ & Others, Blackfriars Crown Court 2017 – Lisa defended WJ in a multi-handed tobacco smuggling conspiracy involving 5 defendants. The case involved a significant amount of cell site and tachometer evidence.
R v MG & Another, Swansea Crown Court 2016 – Led junior in a complex VAT fraud conspiracy which involved a vast amount of evidence (over 70,000 pages).
R v MM, Blackfriars Crown Court 2015 – Lisa defended in this multifaceted international fraud and money laundering conspiracy. Fraudsters cloned a bona fide investment company and then proceeded to cold-call high net worth individuals. They were persuaded to transfer large sums of money, supposedly to purchase shares that they were assured would significantly increase in value. The profits from the fraud were then transferred to bank accounts across the world.
R v EB & Others, Blackfriars Crown Court 2013 – Led junior in an international money laundering conspiracy where the defendant was said to have laundered over £26million. The case involved complicated issues surrounding coded lists discovered at the defendant’s address and also the defendant’s fitness to plead.
Historic Sex Offences
R v NM & PF, Wood Green Crown Court 2019 – Both accused were acquitted of a gang rape allegation. Lisa successfully blocked a joinder application to a separate. and more recent rape allegation against the co-defendant. She also prevented the Crown adducing confession evidence.
R v RB, Birmingham Crown Court 2019 – RB was accused of two historic campaigns of rape against two complainants, one of which was said to be over a 15 year period. The factual matrix was extremely complicated and the allegations went back to the 1960’s. After two trials the defendant was acquitted of all of the allegations of child rape (7 counts), and only convicted of a single allegation of submission rape when the first complainant was an adult.
R v BJ & Others, Reading Crown Court 2017 – Lisa was led by Jon Swain in this multi handed historic sex case which accused a number of taxi drivers of grooming and raping a vulnerable youth who lived in a care home. The case involved voluminous social services disclosure issues as well as numerous s41 and bad character arguments.
R v CD, Southampton Crown Court 2017 – Lisa was led in this 58 count historic sex abuse trial by Jon Swain. During the trial Lisa was tasked to conduct the legal arguments on the admissibility of s116 hearsay, a purported 39 page confession made in a 1980 police interview and the permitted scope of social services records to demonstrate previous inconsistent statements. She also cross-examined one of the ten complainants.
R v SM & Another, Oxford Crown Court 2016 – This trial was part of the Operation Bullfinch investigation that revealed the abuse of care home children by Asian males in the Oxford area. Lisa was led by Alexia Power in this extremely serious allegation of gang rape & child prostitution.
Serious Sexual Offences
R v JW, Maidstone Crown Court 2020 – The defendant was accused of a campaign of rape against his 9 year old step daughter and possession of indecent images. The trial involved complicated s41 and non defendant bad character arguments based on a huge volume of social services evidence.
R v DD, Croydon Crown Court 2018 – The Crown offered no evidence against DD on the first day of the trial, when disclosure of Whatsapps and other telephone conversations revealed that the complainant’s (DD’s wife) credibility was severely in question.
R v SB, Hove Crown Court 2018 – Lisa was instructed privately to represent SB who was accused of assault by penetration after a night out with friends. The Crown offered no evidence pre trial, on the basis of the defence statement Lisa drafted.
R v CB, Snaresbrook Crown Court 2016 – CB was acquitted of raping his girlfriend during an argument about whether or not she had cheated on him the previous evening. CB had admitted assaulting her before and after their sexual activity. The trial involved complex arguments about bad character and the admissibility of the complainant’s previous sexual history.
R v LA, Wood Green Crown Court 2016 – LA was accused of ‘stranger rape’. The defendant claimed that he had engaged in consensual sex with the complainant after only just meeting her. LA was acquitted.
R v AH, Blackfriars Crown Court 2015 – AH was alleged to have raped a young woman after being invited to an impromptu party at her home. The prosecution alleged that he had plied the woman with illegal drugs and alcohol before taking advantage of her inebriated state. After a hung jury, the prosecution offered no evidence against AH.
R v JT, Oxford Crown Court 2014 & 2015 – JT was part of an ice skating boy band troupe who was accused of sexually preying on teenage fans. He faced allegations of sexual activity with a child, rape, assault by penetration and possession of indecent images over two trials. The cases involved complicated legal arguments re admissibility of bad character, s41 material and severance.
Child Cruelty
Regina v BW & Another, St Albans Crown Court 2017 – Lisa defended a young mother accused of neglecting her son by not taking him to hospital after he suffered a broken bone at the hands of her husband. Both defendants were acquitted by the jury.
Complex Cases Involving Mental Health Issues
Regina v JR, Stafford Crown Court 2015 – Lisa defended a man serving a life sentence for murder who faced one count of poisoning with intent to endanger life while he was a serving prisoner. The Crown accused JR of attempting to overdose another prisoner by putting his prescription medication in their coffee. JR had confessed to the crime after the prisoner was found acting strangely in his cell. The case involved marshaling a large volume of expert evidence in – psychiatry, psychology and toxicology. The Judge was asked to enter a verdict of not guilty.
Regina v AJ, Southwark Crown Court 2014 – Lisa successfully defended a young defendant accused of inflicting grievous bodily harm in an unprovoked attack on Oxford Street. The defendant suffered from acute polymorphic psychotic disorder – a rare mental health disorder. She successfully argued that he could not have formed the specific intent necessary for the offence.
Regina v CA, Aylesbury Crown Court 2014 – Lisa successfully defended a care home assistant accused of mistreating a severely autistic vulnerable patient on two occasions that had been captured on secretly installed CCTV. The case demanded a wide knowledge of the levels of training and standards expected of care assistants to enable effective cross-examination of the manager of the care home.
Vulnerable Youths – Certificate of Counsel Cases
R v MK, Southampton Youth Court 2019, Southampton Crown Court 2020 – MK was accused of rape and sexual offences against his foster carer’s granddaughters. Lisa appeared in the first trial and the appeal against conviction. The case hinged on the admissibility of first complaint evidence to an absent witness. MK’s appeal was successful for all charges.
R v FA, Barkingside Youth Court 2016 – FA was accused of seriously sexually assaulting a deaf care worker at his care home. FA was an extremely vulnerable hearing impaired youth. The defence were only able to identify one expert in the UK who was able to assess FA’s ability to participate in his trial. Lisa successfully argued for the Court to bridge the funding gap between the LAA and the expert. When the Crown were made fully aware of the vulnerabilities of FA they acceded to her representations that it was not in the public interest to proceed.
R v HC, Highbury Corner Youth Court 2016 – HC was accused of stabbing a young man at an illegal car show in North London and faced a charge of inflicting GBH with intent. Lisa successfully overturned the conviction on appeal at Wood Green Crown Court.
Trading Standards & Company Act Offences
R v PH, MH & CH Teeside Crown Court, 2015 – Lisa represented a family who were accused of running a counterfeit t-shirt printing business. MH & CH had accepted their involvement but the Crown still pursued their father’s prosecution. PH was acquitted at trial.
Department of Business, Innovation & Skills v RL & PL; Southwark Crown Court 2014 & 2015 – Lisa prosecuted this multi-handed BIS case. The defendants had been disqualified from acting as company directors but were alleged to have installed their son as a director in name only.
Nursing & Midwifery Council & Health Care Professionals Council
NMC v CN 2016 – Lisa successfully represented a community psychiatric nurse who was accused of dishonestly amending digital records after he had been told that one of his patients had committed suicide.
HCPC v SD 2015 – Lisa represented a social worker who had posted abusive tweets (from his personal profile) on well known, right leaning politicians twitter accounts. The issue at the final hearing was whether or not these comments had occurred in the private or public sphere and where the line between freedom of speech and misconduct is drawn.
Court of Appeal
R v Martins [2021] EWCA Crim 223. Lisa appealed with leave, the defendant’s conviction for Robbery. The legal argument revolved around the the level of indirect force necessary (and evidence to support that indirect force) to convert a theft into a robbery. This decision was reported in the Archbold News Issue 8, 2021.
R v Jamieson [2021]. Lisa appealed with leave, the appellant’s sentence for Attempted Possession of a Firearm, Ammunition and Importation of Class A drugs. Lord Justice Treacy praised Lisa’s ingenuity in his judgment.
R v Poku [2019] EWCA Crim 1209 Lisa was instructed by the Registrar to assist the appellant re his appeal as to the application of the sentencing guidelines in his case. The Court of Appeal commended her “attractively developed” submissions re the boundaries of greater harm for a s18.
R v LT & Others, Isleworth Crown Court 2018 – LT was accused of a violent reprisal attack on a drug dealer. He had stabbed the victim multiple times in the face. After pleading guilty, Lisa was able to persuade the Court to impose a non custodial penalty on this 16 year old. Despite being appealed by the Crown as unduly lenient, the Court of Appeal upheld the merciful sentence. [2018 EWCA Crim 973]
R v JC 2017 – Lisa successfully appealed her defendant’s sentence of 54 months imprisonment for possessing criminal property obtained from class A drug dealing. The Court of Appeal agreed that the sentencing Judge had erred in substituting the Money Laundering Guideline for the Definitive Drug Guideline. The defendant’s sentence was reduced to 30 months.
R v JW 2013 – Successful appeal of an extended sentence imposed for an offence of s20 Grievous Bodily Harm; the appeal point was identified while representing the defendant at a parole hearing. The defendant was released immediately after serving over 5 years in custody.
R v LB [2012] EWCA Crim 346 – Successful application to the Court of Appeal when Lisa was a pupil barrister; the defendant’s sentence for actual bodily harm was reduced from 28 months to 16 months.
