Shannon Revel

‘Shannon possesses the skills and judgement of a barrister beyond her year of call. She is robust, effective and calm under pressure. A star in the making.’ – Legal 500 2022 and ‘... a formidable advocate who commands the respect of opposing advocates and judges, with her calm and unassuming demeanour ... takes pride in her thorough preparation of a case, which enables her to make complex legal submissions with apparent ease. Her dedication to her clients and ethos of leaving no stone unturned, set her apart from other advocates in the field .... prosecuting or defending Shannon gives her all to a case.’ Legal 500 2021 (Rising stars) Ranked: Tier 1

Shannon specialises in serious crime and enjoys a solid practice. Recent instructions as sole counsel include offences of attempted murder, firearms offences, high value fraud, multi handed cases involving the importation of class A drugs/ Encrochat evidence and serious sexual offences. Shannon is regularly instructed in cases involving gang violence and associated offences of kidnap/blackmail or large-scale public disorder.

As a led junior Shannon is instructed in cases of murder, attempted murder, terrorism, multi-million pound frauds and serious sexual offences/grooming. This includes a number of cases in which she is led by Queen’s Counsel.

Shannon is an accomplished fraud advocate and is appointed at level 3 to the CPS Specialist Fraud Panel. She regularly prosecutes and defends in complex matters involving allegations of ponzi, boiler room, other investment and MTIC frauds.

Shannon enjoys a successful firearms practice and has a keen interest in the classification of firearms. In Nov-Dec 2021 Shannon undertook the ‘Introduction to Firearms Investigations and Forensic Ballistics’ short course at Cranfield University, building on her practical experience of firearms cases in court. The Course involved classifying firearms under the Firearms Act 1968 (as amended) based on the operating mechanisms of different firearms, test firing weapons and learning how to make a loaded firearm safe for removal from a scene.

Shannon is an advocacy trainer at Middle Temple and is a member of the Pupillage Committee in Chambers.

Murder and Serious Violence

R v IS & Ors Central Criminal Court 2022 – Led Junior to Queen’s Counsel in allegation of gangland murder

R v MOS Central Criminal Court 2022 – Led Junior to Queen’s Counsel in a case involving terrorism offences including the alleged financing of terrorist organisations overseas.

R v AG & Ors Central Criminal Court 2021 – Led Junior to Queen’s Counsel in a multi-handed allegation of gangland murder. Defendant not guilty of murder and was sentenced to 8 years’ imprisonment for manslaughter on the basis that he had no knowledge of any weapons being carried by co-defendants.

R v ST Maidstone Crown Court 2021 – Defence counsel alone. Secured acquittal of attempted murder.

R v JW & CC Central Criminal Court 2020 – Led Junior for the Crown in a two-handed case of attempted murder.

R v ZH Wood Green Crown Court 2020 – Defence counsel for the second defendant accused of gangland/drug related kidnapping, false imprisonment and violence offences. Acquitted following defence representations regarding unauthorised surveillance activity & arising disclosure inadequacies.

R v JH Isleworth Crown Court 2019 – Junior alone for the Crown in a case involving two counts of s.18 GBH with intent, and one count of aggravated burglary. The defendant was one of four masked men who burst into a property in north London and stabbed a middle-aged female eight times and her partner twice, whilst demanding money from the occupants.

R v PK, JK, BP, LS, TT, PZ & DJ Kingston Crown Court 2019 – Led Junior for the Crown in the prosecution of seven members of the Hell’s Angels and Red Devils motorcycle clubs based in Slough. The investigation, codenamed ‘Operation Creak’ concerned a planned attack on a rival motorcycle club in Surrey, which was demonstrated through evidence involving cell site (RF) data, DNA, blood spatter, co-location, ANPR, phone contact, social media and internet searches. The Hell’s Angels and Red Devils ‘prospect’ members travelled from Slough to Surrey armed with weapons, nitrile gloves and masks. Seven victims belonging to the rival motorcycle club were set upon by 13 masked men, stabbed multiple times and left with life threatening injuries. All defendants were convicted after an 8-week trial.

Firearms

R v DJJ Croydon Crown Court 2022 – Defence Counsel for a male accused of possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and threats to kill. The Defendant is accused of threatening a group of children with an imitation firearm.

R v HR Northampton Crown Court 2021 – Secured not guilty verdicts for a young man charged with possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and conspiracy to wound following a shooting at a football match in Northampton. Successfully argued in legal submissions to exclude unreliable evidence which led to the Crown offering no evidence on day 2 of the trial.

R v YA Southwark Crown Court 2020 – Counsel for the Crown in a case involving possession of an imitation firearm with criminal intent and a series of bank robberies. The defendant was accused of entering various banks on King’s Road and producing an imitation firearm with a demand note, which were later found on his person upon arrest with a list of further banks to be targeted.

R v EN Central Criminal Court 2019 – Secured the unanimous acquittal of a young man on an indictment containing five counts of possession of firearms and ammunition with intent to endanger life. Two shotguns were found loaded with live ammunition at a storage cupboard following the execution of a firearms warrant in Edmonton. The Crown’s case was based on fingerprint evidence from the cupboard and packaging around the firearms, alongside DNA from the muzzle of one of the shotguns. The defence was one of no possession and secondary transfer of DNA.

R v LG Snaresbrook Crown Court 2019 – Secured a suspended sentence for a young female charged with possession of a firearm. The defendant had been in possession of a sawn-off shotgun for 7 days following a drug dealer placing it into her possession under the understanding it was a package of drugs. She found out it was a firearm a few days before her arrest. The defendant was found in a state of intoxication with the firearm on the street. Following submissions made prior to the PTPH as to exceptional circumstances, the defendant was granted bail, pleaded guilty and the mandatory minimum 5-year sentence was not applied. The defendant received a suspended sentence following a written ruling on exceptional circumstances.

Large-Scale Drug Supply

R v MS Woolwich Crown Court 2022– Defence Counsel in Encrochat case involving an allegation of conspiracy to import multi-kilo shipments of cocaine.

R v LT & Ors Bristol Crown Court 2022 – Defence Counsel in Encrochat case involving a large multi-handed conspiracy to import cocaine.

R v KW & Ors Guildford Crown Court 2022 – Defence Counsel in multi handed conspiracy to supply cocaine.

Fraud/Money Laundering/Asset Forfeiture

R v AC Southwark Crown Court 2022 – Junior to Queen’s Counsel for the Crown in an allegation of a ponzi fraud valued over £50m.

R v JD Isleworth Crown Court 202- Junior alone in a case involving a number of frauds committed through the diversion of funds by an accountant over representing tax figures due to HMRC totalling over £500,000.

R v EJ, DJ, ZU, MS & RU Southwark Crown Court 2020 – Led Junior for the Crown in the successful prosecution of five members of a Lithuanian OCG responsible for smuggling over 58 million cigarettes into the UK over a 7-month period, codenamed ‘Operation Appletree’. The total value of duty evaded was over £14.7 million.

R v KV Woolwich Crown Court 2019 – Represented the Defendant in confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act. Successfully argued on legal submissions to reduce the benefit figure from the original drugs case by £450,000 and further on factual submissions using expert evidence to achieve settlement at under £100,000. The original benefit figure had been just under £800,000.

Other Crime

R v KH and WH Isleworth Crown Court 2018  – Defence Counsel for the first defendant mother charged with 9 counts of cruelty to a child under 16. Following careful cross-examination of the child witness, the first defendant was acquitted by the jury of all physical assault charges alleged.

Appointments

CPS Specialist Fraud Panel Level 3

CPS Panel General Crime Level 3

Middle Temple Advocacy Trainer

Furnival Pupillage Committee

Awards

CBA Bursary for Excellence in Advocacy 2015

BPP Award for Outstanding Contribution to Pro Bono Work 2014

Middle Temple Anglo-Israel Scholarship 2014

Middle Temple Christopher Benson Scholarship 2013

Academic

Accredited Mediator, ADR Group

BPTC, BPP London

LLB (Hons) European Comparative and International Law, Sheffield University

Transnational Law & Foreign Policy, Griffith University Australia