| Year of birth | 1957 |
| Year of call | 1980 |
| Appointments | 1994 – Assistant Recorder 1997 – Queen’s Counsel (at the age of 39) 2001 – Deputy High Court Judge 2004 – Bencher of Middle Temple 2008 – Senior Treasury Counsel |
| Full CV |
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Ranked by Chambers and Partners and the Legal 500 as a premier tier advocate in crime; he is regarded as “the outstanding silk on the Northern circuit at the moment” who is “never anything other than cool, calm and collected even in the teeth of serious provocation”. He undertakes “very heavy crime in his impressively broad practice”.
As a junior he came to public prominence by defending the footballer, Bruce Grobelaar on corruption charges. Since taking silk he has prosecuted and defended in many high profile and notable cases, including R v. Taft (“Beauty in the Bath”), R v. Allan (“Death on the Nile”) and R v Park (“Lady in the Lake”). In 2006 he began to prosecute terrorist cases for CPS HQ London and substantial frauds for the Serious Fraud Office.
His areas of specialism include police law, public law and judicial review where he is first choice counsel for the authorities and other public bodies. He is also regularly instructed by Accident Exchange PLC, one of the leading operators in the market of consumer credit and credit hire.
Notable Cases
| Case name | R v. Rangzieb Ahmed, Habib Ahmed and Mehreen Haji | Case name | R v Gilleard |
| Appearance | Prosecution | Appearance | Prosecution |
| Detail | Terrorism trial at Manchester: first ever conviction for a section 56 offence of directing a terrorist organisation | Detail | Terrorism (nazi nail bomber) at Leeds Crown Court |
| Case name | R v. Manchester Crown Court ex p Malik | Case name | Severn Trent Water |
| Appearance | Responding | Appearance | Prosecution |
| Detail | Judicial Review on behalf of Greater Manchester Police relating to production orders in the context of a terrorism trial | Detail | Prosecution of plc for offences of misleading OFWAT under the Water Act (first ever such prosecution). |