Home / Criminal Law
Criminal Law
CONTACT THE CLERKS
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.

Barristers
FILTER BY EXPERTISE
Please select on of the suggested variants.
KCs
-
Joint Head of Chambers
Sam Green KC
Call: 1998
Silk: 2015
-
Associate Tenant
Nigel Sangster KC
Call: 1976
Silk: 1998
-
Richard Barraclough KC
Call: 1980
Silk: 2003
-
Simon Myerson KC
Call: 1986
Silk: 2003
-
Bryan Cox KC
Call: 1979
Silk: 2005
-
Associate Tenant
Jane Bewsey KC
Call: 1986
Silk: 2010
-
Simon Bickler KC
Call: 1988
Silk: 2011
-
Associate Tenant
John Harrison KC
Call: 1994
Silk: 2016
-
Jonathan Sandiford KC
Call: 1992
Silk: 2020
-
Associate Tenant
Cameron Brown KC
Call: 1998
Silk: 2020
-
Nicholas Worsley KC
Call: 1998
Silk: 2023
There are no KCs suiting filter condition
Members
-
Joint Head of Chambers
Denise Breen-Lawton
Call: 2000
-
Jeremy Barnett
Call: 1980
-
Philip Standfast
Call: 1980
-
Nikki Saxton
Call: 1992
-
Robert Smith
Call: 1995
-
Associate Tenant
David Hughes
Call: 1997
-
Derek Duffy
Call: 1997
-
Alasdair Campbell
Call: 1999
-
Andrew Stranex
Call: 2000
-
Jane Brady
Call: 2001
-
James Bourne-Arton
Call: 2001
-
Danielle Graham
Call: 2003
-
Hal Watson
Call: 2003
-
James Lake
Call: 2005
-
Andrew Nixon
Call: 2006
-
Helen Chapman
Call: 2006
-
Voldi Welch
Call: 2008
-
Associate Tenant
Hannah Hinton
Call: 2008
-
Angus MacDonald
Call: 2009
-
Sophie Mitchell
Call: 2010
-
Hannah Lynch
Call: 2011
-
Stephen Flint
Call: 2012
-
George Hazel-Owram
Call: 2012
-
Kristina Goodwin
Call: 2013
-
Stephen Elphick
Call: 2014
-
Charlie Greenwood
Call: 2015
-
Frances Pencheon
Call: 2015
-
Jessica Heggie
Call: 2017
-
Harry Crowson
Call: 2018
-
Temitayo Dasaolu
Call: 2018
-
Ayman Khokhar
Call: 2018
-
Emma Handley
Call: 2019
-
Matthew Moore-Taylor
Call: 2020
There are no Members suiting filter condition
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.
Blog
The Latest Criminal Law News and Cases
Follow our blog for further information on the latest Criminal Law news and cases.
2y ago
This Week at St Pauls Chambers 28th May 2021
After initially advising pre-charge, Jane Brady instructed by the prosecution has seen this case through to the end as guilty …
This Week at St Pauls Chambers 28th May 2021 Read More »
2y ago
This week at St Pauls Chambers – 21st May 2021
Philip Standfast, prosecuting a sentence at York Crown Court this week. Assisted the court to ensure that a “vile and …
This week at St Pauls Chambers – 21st May 2021 Read More »
2y ago
This week at St Pauls Chambers – 12/03/21
Hannah Lynch successfully represented a local authority in a SEND Hearing before the First-Tier Tribunal, in an appeal against the …
This week at St Pauls Chambers – 12/03/21 Read More »