1 Leading criminal defence barristers | Garden Court Chambers | London, UK

Criminal Defence

"Impressed solicitors note that the individuals at the set represent an amazing level of excellence."

Chambers UK Bar Guide

"The barristers at this set are known for being socially conscious, fully committed to their cases and very imaginative in court."

Chambers UK Bar Guide

“The clerks are easy to get on with, reliable, extremely well organised and quick to respond to calls and e-mails. They work to a very high and professional standard."

Chambers UK Bar Guide

"Garden Court is a chambers of choice for complex, high-profile cases. The quality of advocacy and preparation provided by the barristers is exceptional, and the fine service provided by the clerks ensures smooth case management."

Chambers UK Bar Guide

To contact the Crime Clerks, please email crimeclerksmailbox@gclaw.co.uk or phone

+44 (0)20 7993 7600

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Our criminal defence barristers have defended in – and won – many of the landmark cases that have defined modern criminal law.

The Garden Court Chambers Crime team regularly defend individuals charged with the most serious offences. We have a strong presence at the Central Criminal Court, where our barristers are instructed on a daily basis.

The Garden Court Chambers Crime Team were nominated for ‘Crime Set of the Year’ at the Legal 500 Bar Awards 2023 and are ranked as a leading set in the Legal 500 and Chambers UK Bar Guide.

Areas of Expertise

  • Murder and violent crime
  • Sexual offences
  • Terrorism
  • Protest and public order
  • Baby-shaking
  • High-value frauds and confiscation
  • Criminal appeals

In 2021, our crime team was shortlisted for Crime Set of the Year at the Chambers Bar Awards. In 2015 our crime team won the Legal 500 Crime Set of the Year Award and we have since been shortlisted for this award a further two times. We are proud to have 19 King’s Counsel in our team. We have the highest number of ranked silks at the Bar in Chambers & Partners.

Multidisciplinary expertise within Chambers means that we are able to call on other specialists. A number of us also practise in the fields of judicial review (in particular, challenges to youth court practice and procedure), extradition, inquests into deaths in custody, actions against the police and public authorities and prison law.

We continue to actively lobby Government on policy proposals affecting the criminal Bar, in keeping with our ethos of defending access to justice.

Criminal Defence

Recent Notable Cases & News

Past Notable Cases

 

Sally Challen murder conviction quashed and manslaughter plea accepted in “coercive control” case (2019) 
Landmark case in which Sally Challen walked free after prosecutors accepted a lesser plea of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, for killing her abusive husband after decades of psychological abuse. Coverage in BBCGuardian and ITV News.

Stansted 15 kept out of prison following their conviction for endangering safety at an aerodrome (2019)
Defended activists who took action to prevent a deportation flight removing people from the UK and taking those people to countries where their lives were at risk. See coverage in The Guardian.

Jonathan King sex abuse case (2018) 
Represented Jonathan King. Surrey Police apologised and the trial collapsed after defence submissions revealed systematic disclosure failings in sex abuse case of former DJ, Jonathan King. See coverage in The Guardian.

Acquittal at Old Bailey in multi-handed gang murder of music producer (2017)
Represented Uzoeme Emeofa, who was alleged to be one of an attacking group that fatally stabbed Dean Pascal-Modeste, an aspiring music producer, 14 times after he was chased to his death, by a group of young men on mopeds and on foot armed with guns and knives. He was acquitted following a seven week trial at the Old Bailey. The case involved extensive cell site, phone billing analysis, forensic evidence and the piecing together of CCTV footage, along with Automatic Number Plate Recognition.

Jailed whistle-blower in plea for press freedoms to take case to European Court (2017)
Unique appeal to the European Court of Human Rights raising issues of constitutional importance: press freedom and whether journalistic sources can remain anonymous or avoid prosecution if their identity is revealed. Trial brought about by Operation Elveden and prosecution for Misconduct in Public office. See coverage in Press Gazette.

Landmark Supreme Court joint enterprise case (2016)
R v Ameen Jogee & Ruddock v Jamaica (Supreme Court and Privy Council) UKSC 2015/0015; JCPC 2015/0020. The most important criminal case of recent decades which found that the joint enterprise law had been wrongly interpreted for 30 years. Significant media coverage, including by the BBC, The Guardian and Independent.

The Hatton Garden raid (2016)
Represented two defendants accused of their roles in the Hatton Garden safety deposit box raid, described by the judge to be the “biggest burglary in English legal history.”  Covered by the BBC, The Guardian and The Telegraph.

The Omagh Bombing Case (2016)
R v Seamus Daly. Defended the only suspect in the Omagh Bombing, Seamus Daly, who was accused of murdering 29 people. The prosecution case against Mr Daly collapsed after cross-examination of the prosecution’s key witness. Reported by the BBC, The Guardian, Independent and Sky News.

Acquittal of broker in LIBOR trial (2016)
Darrell Read found not guilty of conspiring to defraud by manipulating the LIBOR rate. The case has been widely reported, including in the Guardian and the BBC.

Stacey Hyde cleared of murder in retrial (2015)
Successfully appealed the conviction of Stacey Hyde, previously convicted of murder in 2010. Reported by the Telegraph, the BBC and the Guardian.

Karissa Cox cleared of child abuse (2015)
Two parents found innocent of child abuse after their baby was removed and adopted. Extensive national press coverage, including in the Guardian and Independent.

Collapse of terror trial against Bherlin Gildo (2015)
Case collapsed against Swedish national as prosecution offers no evidence. The case has received widespread media coverage, including by The Guardian and The Telegraph.

Contact team

The Team

Rajiv Menon KC

Year of Call: 1993

Year of Silk: 2011

Henry Blaxland KC

Year of Call: 1978

Year of Silk: 2002

Icah Peart KC

Year of Call: 1978

Year of Silk: 2002

Michael Turner KC

Year of Call: 1981

Year of Silk: 2002

James Scobie KC

Year of Call: 1984

Year of Silk: 2010

Peter Wilcock KC

Year of Call: 1988

Year of Silk: 2012

Michael Ivers KC

Year of Call: 1991

Year of Silk: 2016

Clare Wade KC

Year of Call: 1990

Year of Silk: 2018

David Emanuel KC

Year of Call: 1996

Year of Silk: 2019

Keir Monteith KC

Year of Call: 1994

Year of Silk: 2019

Hossein Zahir KC

Year of Call: 2005

Year of Silk: 2019

Allison Munroe KC

Year of Call: 1992

Year of Silk: 2020

Anya Lewis KC

Year of Call: 1997

Year of Silk: 2021

Sam Robinson KC

Year of Call: 2002

Year of Silk: 2021

Mark Gatley KC

Year of Call: 1993

Year of Silk: 2022

Edward Grieves KC

Year of Call: 1995

Year of Silk: 2023

Joanne Cecil KC

Year of Call: 2005

Year of Silk: 2024

Michael House

Year of Call: 1972

Marguerite Russell

Year of Call: 1972

Patrick Roche

Year of Call: 1977

Lalith de Kauwe

Year of Call: 1978

Michael Hall

Year of Call: 1983

Nerida Harford-Bell

Year of Call: 1984

Piers Mostyn

Year of Call: 1989

Alistair Polson

Year of Call: 1989

Alex Taylor-Camara

Year of Call: 1989

Carol Hawley

Year of Call: 1990

Jacqueline Vallejo

Year of Call: 1997

Helen Butcher

Year of Call: 1999

Ruby Selva

Year of Call: 1999

Hugh Mullan

Year of Call: 2019

Minka Braun

Year of Call: 2000

Sam Parham

Year of Call: 2000

Christian Wasunna

Year of Call: 2000

Kate Aubrey-Johnson

Year of Call: 2001

Elizabeth Lambert

Year of Call: 2001

Stella Harris

Year of Call: 2002

Victoria Meads

Year of Call: 2002

Alex Rose

Year of Call: 2003

Tom Wainwright

Year of Call: 2003

Daniel Jameson

Year of Call: 2004

Lucie Wibberley

Year of Call: 2005

Sarah Hemingway

Year of Call: 2006

Alex Grigg

Year of Call: 2007

Giles Newell

Year of Call: 2007

Lee Sergent

Year of Call: 2016

Shahida Begum

Year of Call: 2008

Lyndsey Sambrooks-Wright

Year of Call: 2008

Thalia Maragh

Year of Call: 2009

Jacob Bindman

Year of Call: 2010

Emma Fenn

Year of Call: 2010

Russell Fraser

Year of Call: 2010

Michael Goold

Year of Call: 2010

Owen Greenhall

Year of Call: 2010

Gerwyn Wise

Year of Call: 2010

Catherine Oborne

Year of Call: 2011

Alia Akram

Year of Call: 2011

Susan Wright

Year of Call: 2013

Tom Copeland

Year of Call: 2013

Audrey Cherryl Mogan

Year of Call: 2014

Meredoc McMinn

Year of Call: 2015

Twanieka Alcindor

Year of Call: 2015

Shina Animashaun

Year of Call: 2015

Franck Magennis

Year of Call: 2016

Fatima Jichi

Year of Call: 2019

Catherine Rose

Year of Call: 2017

Elena Papamichael

Year of Call: 2021

Gerard Pitt

Year of Call: 2018

Tommy Seagull

Year of Call: 2018

Mark Robinson

Year of Call: 2020

Will Hanson

Year of Call: 2021

Alex Ryle

Year of Call: 2022

Ifẹ Thompson

Year of Call: 2020

Frederick Legg

Year of Call: 2024

Stephen Kamlish KC

Year of Call: 1979

Year of Silk: 2003

Pete Weatherby KC

Year of Call: 1992

Year of Silk: 2012

Brenda Campbell KC

Year of Call: 2002

Year of Silk: 2018

Anna Morris KC

Year of Call: 2006

Year of Silk: 2023

Richard Harvey

Year of Call: 1971

Mary McKeone

Year of Call: 1986

Kamran Choudhry

Year of Call: 2001

Sareta Ashraph

Year of Call: 2002

James Mehigan

Year of Call: 2008

Dr Terry McGuinness

Year of Call: 2009

We are top ranked by independent legal directories and consistently win awards.

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