Sarah Przybylska

Public Prosecution

Sarah was appointed as Treasury Counsel in 2020. She is a grade 4 advocate and is appointed to the serious crime group panel, terrorism panel and rape panel. She is instructed as leading counsel and as junior to Queen’s Counsel, as well as acting alone.

Her prosecution practice is focussed upon serious, complex, organised and sensitive crime. She is regularly instructed to prosecute cases of murder, people trafficking, fraud, firearms, drug importation and rape. Sarah is regularly instructed in multi-defendant and multi-offence cases, often prosecuting Organised Crime Networks (OCNs), following a proactive investigation. She is familiar with the investigative techniques deployed by specialist police teams and is adept at dealing with surveillance evidence, telephone data including Encrochat material, cell site and attribution, complex scientific evidence, the obtaining and use of evidence from abroad, and bad character evidence in the context of gang prosecutions and otherwise. She has an interest in war crimes following her work with Karim Khan representing Charles Taylor at the Special Court for Sierra Leone and has recently been instructed to advise pre-charge on allegations of genocide by the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division.

Given the nature of her practice, Sarah has advised upon and routinely deals with extremely sensitive disclosure issues. She has particular expertise in PII and the handling of sensitive material relating to investigative techniques and third party disclosure issues. Sarah is DV cleared.

Sarah has a particular interest in cases involving serious sexual offending and offences against women and girls. She has recently advised at pre-charge stage on an investigation into female genital multilation and advised the Attorney General of Jersey on the island’s first sex trafficking prosecution, leading to a conviction.

Sarah has also prosecuted on behalf of the Specialist Fraud Division and other CPS CCUs in matters relating to VAT and tax fraud (see Business Crime Section) and is experienced in dealing with matters relating to Proceeds of Crime and confiscation, recently advising the CPS East of England Proceeds of Crime Team in relation to a restraint issue.

Sarah appears regularly in the Court of Appeal, acting in her own cases, for the Attorney General and on discrete instructions from the Appeals Unit.

Notable Cases:

R v Reeve and others

Seven defendants were convicted of homicide, four of murder and three of manslaughter for their parts in a planned and targeted execution, following a five month trial at the Old Bailey.

R v Dennis McGrory

This defendant was charged with offences of murder and rape and was convicted on 19 December 2022, the oldest double jeopardy case so far prosecuted.

BBC News

R v Osborne 

Prosecuted Finsbury Park attacker Darren Osborne who ran over a group of Muslims returning from prayers during Ramadan. Osborne was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 43 years following his convictions for murder and attempted murder.

R v Vyas

Prosecuted the E17 ’night stalker’, convicted of serial rape and murder in Walthamstow in 2009.

Sky News

R v Bowskill [2022] EWCA Crim 1358, [2022] 4 WLR 98

Bowskill abused and kidnapped his girlfriend, Angel Lynn, who sustained life-changing injuries escaping from his van. Sentence increased following a successful argument that the term imposed was unduly lenient on the basis that the trial judge wrongly failed to consider the injuries suffered by the victim as reasonably foreseeable harm.

The Guardian

R v Tas, Kawa & Davies

Prosecuted a homicide that gave rise to two significant authorities, R v Tas (Ali) [2018] EWCA Crim 2603, [2019] 4 WLR 14 , addressing the availability of overwhelming supervening event following Jogee, and R v Kawa [2023] EWCA Crim 845, [2023] CLJ 395, affirming the distinction between evidence of propensity and evidence of past behaviour that makes it more likely that a defendant acted in a particular way during an alleged offence.

R v Omoworare & others

Prosecuted 3 defendants accused of conspiring to supply commercial quantities of cocaine and cannabis. The conspiracy was revealed following after police infiltrated the ‘Encrochat’ communication network which revealed the open discussion of kilo quantities of cocaine and cannabis being supplied around the coutry. The defendants were convicted on all counts. Leading Fiona Robertson.

East Anglian Daily News 

R v Slepcik & others (Operation Svanetia) 

Prosecuted a network of Slovakian traffickers for bringing women from Eastern Europe to the UK for the purposes of sham marriage and prostitution. Leading Will Martin.

R v Rooftop Rooms 

Prosecuted a company, its directors and the site foreman for manslaughter and health and safety offences following the death of an apprentice.

Construction Enquirer

R v Acourt & Others

Prosecuted Jamie and Neil Acourt, who were accused but not convicted of the murder of Stephen Lawrence, for conspiracy to supply controlled drugs following a two-year surveillance operation.

The Guardian

Paul Chambers v DPP (the Twitter Joke Trial) [2012] EWHC 2157 (Admin), [2013] 1 WLR 1833

Represented Paul Chambers, who sent a joke about blowing up an airport by Twitter and was prosecuted for sending a menacing message by a public electronic communications network. Conviction quashed by a High Court constitution of three judges led by the then Lord Chief Justice.