Overview
Usha is a highly experienced RASSO counsel and Grade 4 Prosecutor with an extensive prosecution background. She was a Crown Advocate at CPS London since 2004. Usha is skilled at dealing with young and vulnerable witnesses in court. She has significant expertise in charging non recent child abuse cases and taking them forward to trial, with successful outcomes.
As an ex-crown advocate Usha has an in-depth knowledge of the CPS policy on RASSO; disclosure and application of these policies to prosecution that have received judicial praise.
Usha has been commended for her dedicated proactive approach to prosecution and collaborative partnerships with stakeholders. She was commended for excellence in prosecution by the DPP at the London and national level CPS awards in 2021 and 2023.
Crime
R v NS – Snaresbrook Crown Court: 15 complainant RASSO trial. Defendant targeted and lured vulnerable women to his home on the pretext of offering them jobs. The defendant was unanimously convicted of 26 offences of rape and controlling prostitution and was sentenced to 31 years. Described in the media as a highly dangerous and devious individual
R v MM – Isleworth Crown Court: firearms. Defence raised contract and civil issue to submit there was no jurisdiction to try the defendant in the UK, as the purchase of the firearm was online with an American company. Successfully submitted that any contract is governed by the Rome 1 agreement that ruled it did not apply to criminal cases.
R v SC – Southwark Crown Court: Human Trafficking. Led junior in human trafficking case of young women into the UK for prostitution. I was involved at the pre charge stage and advised the specialist squad on evidence gathering, preparation of surveillance logs, collation of exhibits of the voice recordings with the complainants and photography of the location where they were housed.
Successful part 2 PII application to withhold methodology of covert surveillance so that future similar operations would not be compromised. All five defendants convicted and sentenced to lengthy terms of imprisonment
R v AB – Wood Green Crown Court: Attempted DV murder :where the victim was in a coma. Successfully applied to adduce her account under hearsay provisions by obtaining medical evidence to show that she would not emerge from the coma. Presented the impact on the victim with a sensitively worded family impact statement and a video taken of the victim in her current state. Medical expert and psychiatric evidence on intent presented to jury. The defendant received a life sentence.
R v AC – Inner London Crown Court: successful prosecution of rape of an intoxicated victim who had fallen asleep after the defendant had driven her to his apartment. Defendant raised drunken consent that was rebutted by toxicology.
R v AH – Isleworth Crown Court, R v SD – Harrow Crown Court, R v BR – Isleworth Crown Court: All non-recent allegations of serious sexual abuse of vulnerable young children by family members. Cases successful cradle to grave prosecutions. Dealt with complex disclosure issues relating to historic social services records and family court proceedings.
R v AS – Wood Green Crown Court: Successful prosecution of a serving Met police officer of serious sexual assault on a colleague.
R v AH – Isleworth Crown Court: RASSO Trial – highly vulnerable witness. Non recent abuse by step uncle on niece started when she was 10 and when she turned 14 he raped her multiple times . At trial ran he ran consent . Convicted after a re trial and sentenced to 20 years. Judge found him to be dangerous and accepted prosecution submissions that that the victim had sustained extreme psychological harm taking the sentence into a category 1.
R v OA – Isleworth Crown Court: RASSO trial – highly vulnerable witness. Defendant imprisoned an escort and raped her repeatedly. Filmed the incidents, strangled and threatened her with a knife. Convicted and found to be dangerous. 15 years sentence.
R v WR – Wood Green Crown Court: RASSO trial – highly vulnerable witness. The victim had been cuckooed by the defendant and his friends who were too scared to stand up to him. They were using her home to run their drugs supply. She had been diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic. When she tried to stop him from using her home he flew into a rage and raped and strangled her along with threats to kill her. At the trial the defendant claimed he had never raped her and she had imagined it and this was exacerbated by her mental health issues. Convicted and sentenced to 16 years. Had previous convictions for violence on ex partners.
R v DD – This historic prosecution concluded nearly 50 years after the offending. Following the empanelment of the jury and the commencement of the Crown’s case, the 91-year-old defendant pleaded guilty on the second day of trial to two counts of rape and accepted that he had subjected the complainant to sustained grooming.
The defendant was sentenced to 16 years’ imprisonment. The sentence reflected the gravity of a sustained course of sexual abuse against a child, committed by a man in a position of trust within her home. The offending resulted in the complainant becoming pregnant at the age of 14 and had lifelong consequences.
The judge described the defendant as dangerous and manipulative. The complainant reported the allegations after her mother’s death, nearly 50 years after she had been compelled to withdraw a complaint made during childhood. Her decision to report led to the defendant’s conviction and the imposition of a substantial custodial sentence.
The case demonstrated that historic sexual offences can be prosecuted successfully, that an account given decades later can be properly assessed by a jury, and that DNA evidence may provide powerful corroboration notwithstanding the passage of time.
The change of pleas followed the defence’s opportunity to hear the Crown’s opening and assess the evidence as it began to unfold. The principal features of the prosecution case were as follows:
The complainant’s video-recorded interview, played at the outset of the Crown’s case, provided a detailed, coherent and internally consistent account of abuse between the ages of 12 and 16. Her evidence explained how the offending continued undetected through secrecy, manipulation and the normalisation of abuse within her own home. It also addressed the reasons for the lengthy delay in reporting.
DNA evidence obtained from a water bottle recovered from a vehicle left to the complainant’s mother under her will placed the issue of paternity beyond realistic dispute. Expert evidence established that the person who had drunk from the bottle was the defendant’s daughter and was either the complainant’s mother or daughter. This finding provided compelling corroboration of the central allegation.
The defence sought to exclude the DNA evidence on the grounds that the sample had been obtained by subterfuge and that there was uncertainty as to whether the expert conclusions were affected by the defendant’s ethnic background.
During the trial, the prosecution obtained further clarification from the expert concerning the statistical calculations. In a supplementary statement, the expert confirmed that the conclusions remained accurate notwithstanding the revised statistical calculation.
Taken together, the evidence left the defendant’s position untenable. The DNA findings removed the principal factual issue upon which the defence might have sought to establish reasonable doubt. The complainant’s detailed account remained unshaken and was corroborated on its central issue. In addition, the defendant’s no-comment interview left the defence without a positive account capable of answering the Crown’s case.
R v HDS, SA & RG – Prosecuted a three-defendant indictment arising from the abduction and sexual assault of an 11-year-old child in Birmingham in August 2025.The case attracted intense local media attention due to the age of the complainant and the defendants profiling.
The complainant was a profoundly vulnerable child in local authority care, destabilised by repeated foster placements and a previous suicide attempt. After leaving her foster placement, she was reported missing. HS intercepted her en route to Stechford railway station, exploited her vulnerability and took her to an address in St Margaret’s Road. There, she was introduced to SA and offered cocaine and alcohol. She was subjected to sexualised questioning, shown the handle of a firearm and threatened with being shot if she disclosed what had happened. A drink caused her to become drowsy and lose consciousness; she awoke in pain, having been sexually assaulted. She was then moved to a second address and taken shopping while visibly unsteady. Her stepmother ultimately forced entry and carried her from the property. The complainant said that she had believed she was going to be raped.
Designed and led a focused, complainant-centred prosecution strategy. The central challenge was to secure and sustain the participation of an exceptionally vulnerable child without compounding her trauma. Coordinated police, social services and specialist support providers to protect her welfare while preserving the integrity and momentum of the prosecution.
The challenge was building a fragmented evidential picture spanning two locations and multiple defendants. Built the case around the complainant’s video-recorded account, advancing it firmly while minimising further harm to her.
Corroborated the complainant’s account with independent identification evidence and photographs from a member of the public who recognised her from a social-media missing-person appeal; the stepmother’s first-responder evidence; and material inconsistencies between the defendants’ accounts.
Dismantled competing defence cases. Two defendants admitted their presence but denied knowing the complainant’s age, identity or missing status; another maintained a no-comment interview. SA and HS were convicted unanimously. JG was acquitted.
Secured a 12-year custodial sentence for the exploitation of a profoundly vulnerable child, involving drugs and alcohol, a threat with a gun and coordinated offending. Achieved that outcome while safeguarding a complainant whose continued participation could never be taken for granted. The two convicted defendants were sentenced to a total of 12 years
Education
University of Kent LLB ( Hons) in Law
Memberships
CPS rape and serious crime panel
News
Two new Grade 4 prosecutors announced
Chambers is pleased to announce that Usha Shergill and Philip Allman have been appointed Grade 4 Prosecutors by the Crown Prosecution Service. We congratulate...
CBA annual dinner 16 May 2025
Members of 2KBW proudly attended this years' Criminal Bar Association dinner.
Life sentence imposed on rapist – Usha Shergill prosecuted for the Crown
A life sentence was imposed upon Peter Ramsey by HHJ Ezzat at Harrow Crown Court on 4th September 2024. The defendant committed a brutal...
2KBW welcomes a new Member of Chambers
2KBW are delighted to welcome Usha Shergill to Chambers. Usha joins us with an extensive prosecution background and twenty years experience as a Crown...
Crime Team
crime@2kbw.com
+44 20 7353 1746