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Criminal Law

Well established and highly trained criminal barristers providing quality advice and trial advocacy on all criminal cases from the Magistrates Court to the Supreme Court.

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Criminal Law

According to the foremost legal directories, the criminal department at St Pauls Chambers “is consistently ranked as one of the leading sets on the North Eastern Circuit”, described as a “very efficiently run and friendly set, which has provided top-class service over many years” by The Legal 500, “awash with strong juniors”, Chambers, and Partners.

‘St Pauls Chambers provides strength in depth regarding criminal law‘ and houses a team comprising ‘counsel of the highest calibre‘. In recent cases of note, John Harrison KC prosecuted a woman who was convicted of gross negligence manslaughter following the death of her disabled daughter from neglect in 2019. The ‘diligent and no-nonsense‘ Denise Breen-Lawton has extensive expertise in high-value fraud, murder and serious sexual offences cases. Helen Chapman and James Bourne-Arton are both sought after for their experience in handling complex fraud and financial crime cases.

The Legal 500 2023

Although based in Leeds, a number of our practitioners regularly practice off-circuit, particularly in London, Manchester and Birmingham. Our large department specialises in criminal and regulatory Law, including health and safety, environmental law, professional discipline, data protection and trademarks. Our Department has 10 Kings Counsel and 33 junior tenants, with members practising in all courts, including Magistrates Courts, Crown Courts, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. A number of our members are widely regarded as leaders in their particular specialisms, something which is reflected in the legal directories, where they are consistently highly commended. The extent to which our criminal law department has flourished over recent years is also reflected in the considerable number of judicial appointments from its ranks, and the number of current members sitting as Recorders (both for general crime, and serious sexual cases).

Our criminal law barristers have appeared in some of the country’s more serious cases for over 30 years. However, it remains our ethos to give the same professional and dedicated service to all cases, large or small.

St Pauls Chambers areas of expertise include murder trials, serious sexual offences and terrorism matters, with fraud cases recognised as a cornerstone strength for the team. The Legal 500

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A feature of tour criminal law department is that within its broad base, there are a considerable number of individuals who are specialists in niche areas, including regulatory law, cases involving complex medical issues (such as ‘baby shaking’), terrorism, gross negligence manslaughter, and complex fraud (including ‘high-tech’ fraud). Some of our criminal law barristers are among the limited number of practitioners with genuine expertise in these fields- for example, we have practitioners who practice substantially or almost exclusively in particular areas of regulatory law, such as health and safety and environmental law. A number of members of chambers have extensive experience conducting sexual cases, both for the prosecution and defence. We have silks and juniors who hold recent experience in conducting major high profile cases of fraud, terrorism, and corporate manslaughter. A number of our criminal law barristers have a particular interest in human rights law, and it is a sign of our experience that a number of leading and junior counsel are currently instructed, together with specialists in personal injury law, in major litigation in which they are representing 20,000 Kenyans claiming damages for assaults and human rights abuses, including torture, which occurred during the Kenyan Emergency in the 1950’s.

Many counsel in chambers prosecute and defend, often in equal measure, though some do appear solely for the prosecution or the defence. Those wishing to instruct counsel are encouraged to contact our clerking team who will be happy to assist and offer advice; further information concerning particular counsel is of course available on our individual counsel profiles, copies of which may be downloaded for your convenience.