At the end of July 2020, Jonny was appointed as Director of Service Prosecutions and took up his new role on 2 November 2020.
Jonathan Rees KC is currently listed by both Chambers and the Legal 500 in the first division of criminal silks. Jonathan has developed an enviable reputation for his courtroom manner and his ability to communicate effectively with judges and juries alike.
During his 13 years as Treasury Counsel at the Old Bailey, he developed a wealth of experience prosecuting some of the most notorious cases of the day including, for example, the ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’ scam, the ‘Freddy Krueger’ killer, the murder of Rachel Nickell on Wimbledon Common, the murder of PC Patrick Dunne, various terrorism cases, cases involving infanticide, gang-related murders, police corruption and misconduct in public office.
Since relinquishing his appointment as Senior Treasury Counsel at the end of 2015, Jonathan has concentrated on using his formidable experience of serious and complex cases to develop his criminal defence practice. With a background in science, he has particular expertise in cases involving DNA evidence and edits a chapter devoted to this topic in the leading text book on sexual offences.
Jonathan is currently instructed for the prosecution and the defence in a wide range of cases featuring allegations of murder, terrorism, white-collar fraud and historic sexual abuse. Many of his cases continue to attract national media attention. Recent cases include Honey Rose, an optometrist charged with gross negligence manslaughter; Stephen Port, the ‘Grindr’ serial killer; Damon Smith, the student who planted an IED on a tube train; Rolf Harris, the entertainer; Darren Osborne, the man who carried out the Finsbury Park terror attack; the rape and murder of 14 year old Viktorija Sokolova; and the murder of Tashan Daniel on the London Underground. In addition, Jonathan has experience of inquests, appearing on behalf of the family of the deceased.
Jonathan was chosen to be one of a panel of three experts who went to China to provide advice to the Supreme People’s Court on the reform of their People’s Assessors System. He is committed to ethnic minority achievement and is a governor of a large secondary school in Southall, West London.
Jonathan accepts Direct Access instructions and is a member of the Private Prosecutors’ Association.
During his time as Senior Treasury Counsel at the Old Bailey, Jonathan Rees KC established himself as a leading prosecutor and was involved in many cases that attracted national media attention.
Since relinquishing his position as Treasury Counsel, Jonathan remains in demand to prosecute the most difficult and challenging cases. His expertise extends to fraud and he is currently instructed by the SFO to advise in respect of an ongoing investigation.
R v Lanning & Camille
Prosecution of two men charged with the murder of Arsenal fan Tashan Danile at Hillingdon underground station. For more information please see press article BBC News, The Guardian and Evening Standard.
R v Chiata & Panton
Prosecution of two men charged with gang-related murder near Clapham Common.
R v Rodwan
Prosecution of van driver who carried out a near fatal machete attack on a police officer in the course of a routine traffic stop.
National press coverage: BBC News, The Guardian and ITV News.
R v Matovu & Dunbar
Prosecution of two young gay men for murder and other offences involving the drugging of gay men with GHB (a chemsex drug) with a view to carrying out offences of dishonesty while they were rendered deeply unconscious.
R v Naybkhyll & Others
Prosecution of father and accomplices who plotted and carried out an acid attack on his three year old son in superstore in Worcester.
R v A
Prosecution of a juvenile charged with the horrific murder and rape of 14 year old Viktorija Sokolova in West Park, Wolverhampton.
Prosecution of Darren Osborne who drove a van into a group of people outside the Muslim Welfare House in Finsbury Park last June. Osborne was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 43 years following his convictions for murder and attempted murder.
National Press Links: BBC News, The Guardian and The Telegraph.
Prosecution of student with Asperger’s who built home made bomb and planted it on a Jubilee Line train.
Prosecution of celebrity entertainer in respect of historic allegations of sexual abuse against young girls.
Prosecution of ‘Grindr’ serial sex killer who murdered four young gay men in Barking by giving them fatal doses of date-rape drug GHB in order to have sexual intercourse with them while they were unconscious.
The first ever optometrist for gross negligence manslaughter in respect of a failure to identify a life-threatening condition during routine eye appointment.
Prosecution of Somali Muslim with mental health problems for random ‘terrorist’ knife attack on members of the public at Leytonstone station.
Prosecution of transgender male for murder (mercy killing) of his disabled father.
Regina v Leslie Cooper and Khalid Rashad
Prosecution of former soldier and Islamic community leader for assassination of Syrian cleric with Mach-10.
Regina v Nicholas Salvadore
Prosecution of schizophrenic who beheaded elderly female with a machete during a psychotic rampage captured on CCTV.
Following his spell as Treasury Counsel at the Old Bailey, prosecuting the full range of grave and complex crimes, Jonathan is well-placed to use his expertise to provide clients charged with serious criminal offences a thorough and robust defence, exploiting any weaknesses in the prosecution case. This is complemented by his background in science and his expertise in DNA evidence, which provides him with the forensic skills necessary for rigorously scrutinising scientific evidence.
Prior to becoming treasury counsel, Jonathan had a broad defence practice specialising in homicide, the defence of police officers and white collar fraud. In recent months, he has focused on rekindling his defence practice and has been instructed to defend in a series of murder cases, the details of which are set out below.
Regina v Woodley
Successful defence of 16 year old charged with group murder of local drug dealer
Regina v Cash
Successful defence of man charged with GBH (fractured eye socket) of fellow traveller at party
Regina v Hillman
Successful defence of young man charged with machete murder of rival drug dealer
Regina v Weeks
Defence of man charged with murder of male during drunken street fight.
Regina v Roberts
Defence of man with personality disorder charged with murder in respect of a fatal stabbing in public house captured on CCTV.
Regina v Anglin
Defence of man charged with notorious murder of homosexual Swiss Banker on Grand Cayman following the first cold case murder review carried out on the island.
In a move to develop other areas of his practice on his departure from treasury counsel’s room, Jonathan has appeared on behalf of the family in two inquests which attracted national media attention.
Inquest into the death of Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Shaw
Inquest into suicide of deputy commander of Warminster garrison.
Inquest into the death of Fusilier David Collins
Inquest into killing of British soldier who was unlawfully killed while off duty in Cyprus.
At the conclusion of a four week trial at the Central Criminal Court, prosecuted by…
Jonathan Rees QC and Will Martin appeared on behalf of a 16 year old boy…
Just before midnight on 7th August 2019, PC Stuart Outten and a colleague had pulled…
