Overview
Andrew is an experienced and well-regarded specialist advocate who defends and prosecutes in a wide range of criminal cases including those involving some of the most serious offences.
Andrew is a grade 3 prosecutor.
Prior to joining the Bar he practised as a criminal defence solicitor, having qualified in 1991. He has worked as a criminal advocate and duty solicitor at large, well-recognised firms in Manchester and London as well as setting up and managing a criminal department in the East End. Before embarking on his career as a barrister Andrew completed a Master’s degree in law. During his time in practice he has been seconded to the Asset Forfeiture Division of the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office and more recently at the Crown Prosecution Service as a Senior Crown Prosecutor dealing with a number of high profile and complex cases. Andrew now teaches on the Bar Vocational Studies course.
Particular areas of interest
Andrew’s particular areas of interest are: mentally disordered defendants and immigration related offences.
Past defence cases include
- Drugs – defendant found not guilty of conspiracy to import 14 kilos of cocaine and 20 kilos of cannabis following a 6-week trial involving 8 co-defendants at Southwark Crown Court
- Money laundering – Husband found not guilty of laundering the proceeds of his wife’s benefit fraud following a two-week trial
- Sexual activity with a person with a mental disorder – Defendant found not guilty at trial where the judge admitted hearsay evidence of the complainant’s allegation
- Theft by an employee – The Crown offered no evidence following a legal argument in relation to disclosure at the trial of the theft of £90,000 by a store manager
- Sexual activity with a child – Defendant found not guilty at Sheffield Crown Court in his absence after he had absconded
- Violent disorder – Leading junior in a 5-week trial at the Old Bailey (one co-defendant charged with Murder)
- S.18 GBH – Defendant found not guilty in a 9-handed 8-week trial
- Evasion of Duty – Crown offer no evidence in response to a legal argument based on the admissibility of the defendant’s interview (accuracy of the interpreting) following an adjourned trial of a Polish lorry driver charged with evasion of £500,000 of duty
- Rape – the Judge directed a not guilty verdict at the end of a week-long trial
- Murder – Junior counsel at the Old Bailey representing a defendant suffering from paranoid schizophrenia whose plea to manslaughter based on diminished responsibility was accepted by the Crown
- Conspiracy to defraud – Leading junior in a large-scale Revenue & Customs fraud in which the Crown offered no evidence following an Abuse of Process argument at trial
- Murder – Junior counsel alone at the Old Bailey representing a defendant who was discharged following a successful dismissal application
- Assisting an offender (Murder) – Junior counsel in a 2-month 4-handed VHCC trial at Ipswich Crown Court in which the defendant was acquitted
- Murder – Junior counsel in a 10-week five – handed trial at the Old Bailey in which the defendant was acquitted.
Past Prosecution cases include
- Drugs – defendant found guilty of importation of Cocaine following a trial at Inner London Crown Court
- Money Laundering – defendant found guilty of money laundering following a trial at Wood Green Crown Court
- Public Order – defendant found guilty of Affray following a trial at Harrow Crown Court
- Immigration – two defendants found guilty of being involved in a sham marriage following a trial at Inner London Crown Court
- Burglary/Theft – 4 defendants pleaded/were found guilty of a series of dwelling house burglaries and theft of a high-value car following a trial at Birmingham Crown Court
- Violence – defendant pleaded guilty at trial in Basildon Crown Court to causing a wound to the complainant’s eye in a nightclub
- Arson with intent – defendant unfit to stand trial was found to have committed the act following a trial at Croydon Crown Court.
Crime Team
crime@2kbw.com
+44 20 7353 1746