Leaders...

2011/12

"St Philips Chambers is a 'leading set of criminalchambers in Birmingham'." Legal 500 2011

This brochure features nine Queen’s Counsel who provide the highest level of

advice and advocacy in the most serious and complex criminal and regulatory

cases, which include:

• Homicide

• Complex and Organised Crime

• Fraud and Financial Regulation

• Corporate and Gross Negligence Manslaughter

• Safety, Health and Environmental (SHE)

• International Crime and Courts Martial

All of our QCs are extremely effective and have a proven track record. They have

been, and continue to be, involved in some of the most serious and high profile

cases of recent times. As part of an award winning chambers, they are ably

supported by 70 criminal and regulatory practitioners.

The ethos of our QCs is to be approachable, open and responsive, all whilst

seeking to achieve the best possible outcome by working with you and your clients

as a team. They are experienced in acting on behalf of individuals and companies

and are regularly instructed at the investigatory stages to advise on tactics and

matters of sensitivity. All are willing to travel for consultations and to represent

clients in courts and tribunals both nationally and internationally.

All undertake publicly and privately funded work and our approach to fees is to be

flexible, straightforward and transparent at all times.

Our Chief Clerk, Joe Wilson, is ready to help you select the QC to match your

requirements.

Please contact him on 0121 246 2136 or jwilson@st-philips.com

Welcome toSt Philips Chambers

David Crigman QCCall 1969Silk 1989Recorder 1987

David has appeared in well over 200 murder trials. In spite of his enormous

experience, he invests a huge amount of time in researching each case

meticulously and is described in Chambers UK Guide as “A lawyer with ‘amazing

analytical ability’”. David is top of Band 1 in Chambers UK Guide 2012 table of

Leading Silks in the Midlands, a position he has held for over a decade. Previously

described as “the premier criminal QC in Birmingham” and “one of the most

hardworking and technical Silks in the country”, the latest edition also describes

him as being "completely dedicated to his cause and a good jury advocate".

David predominately acts for the defence and the Legal 500 has described him as

“a persuasive defender”. However, he has prosecuted in numerous major trials too,

including the infamous “road rage” case in which Tracie Andrews was convicted

for the murder of her fiancé.

Timothy Raggatt QCCall 1972Silk 1993Recorder 1991

Timothy is constantly engaged in criminal cases of the most complex kind,

including regular referral work in the Court of Appeal.

His experience in murder, commercial fraud and all other serious crime includes

many notable cases such as that involving the starvation of Khyra Ishaq; the

robbery and murder of the Fairfield postmaster’s son and the M40 Hell’s Angel

murder. In addition, he has been involved in most of the leading cases on

anonymous and absent witnesses such as the infamous Birmingham New Year’s

Day shootings. His work in these cases has made an important contribution to the

subsequent legislation on these topics.

Timothy is regularly instructed to defend in privately funded cases in all courts

across the country and has a reputation for being commercially minded and cost

sensitive. He encourages the use of fixed / capped fees providing certainty of

costs for clients.

As a Recorder, he is authorised to try both criminal and civil cases of all kinds.

Stephen Linehan QCCall 1970Silk 1993Recorder 1986

Stephen’s practice consists of serious criminal offences and breaches of regulatory

law. His vast experience includes a recent case of particular importance

concerning the reliability of low copy number DNA evidence. Here he made a

major contribution to clarifying the validity of this type of evidence where several

previous cases had failed to do so.

Stephen is highly regarded in the regulatory field. His particular expertise involves

defending companies and their directors charged with offences contrary to SHE

legislation. Recent cases include defending a hotel chain where an outbreak of

Legionnaires Disease occurred and a civil engineering company who were

prosecuted after the fatality of a sub-contractor during the course of motorway

repairs.

Stephen is an expert in gambling and licensing law. He prosecutes on behalf of the

Gambling Commission as well as acting for businesses nationwide.

Chris Millington QCCall 1976Silk 2001Recorder 2001

Chris acts for the prosecution and the defence in equal measure. His practice

consists of serious and organised crime and predominantly murder cases. These

have included a number of high profile murders and in particular gangland

shootings.

He also has extensive experience in gross negligence manslaughter cases. One

such case involved a nurse acting as carer and another concerned a sinking of a

pleasure cruiser. Chris also acts in cases relating to sexual offences, these being

mainly historical offences.

Chambers UK Guide 2012 describe him as "having a persuasive manner in front

of a jury and is especially noted for murder and manslaughter matters".

Chris is one of the leading criminal Silks in the Midlands.

Peter Haynes QCCall 1983Silk 2008

Peter is a national and international trial advocate with substantial experience

before both the ad hoc international criminal tribunals and the International

Criminal Court (ICC) where he is one of the few advocates to have conducted

a trial.

He is particularly skilled at presenting extremely grave and complex cases involving

very large numbers of witnesses and extensive documentation. This was clearly

demonstrated during his three years defending in a war crimes trial in The Hague

concerning the alleged genocide at Srebrenica of over 8,000 Bosnian Muslims

(“the largest criminal trial since the second world war”).

Peter is currently defence counsel in the case of The Prosecutor v Jean Pierre

Bemba Gombo (the situation in Central African Republic) being tried at the

International Criminal Court. He has also recently been appointed to the list of

approved counsel at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, the putative International

Terrorism Court.

His domestic practice is substantial and has included many major drug

conspiracies, people-trafficking cases and murders, including gangland shootings.

He has extensive experience in white-collar crime and fraud related matters.

Notable cases include defending in a multi-million pound food industry fraud case,

brought by DEFRA.

An excellent advocate and performer in court, Peter represents the prosecution

and defence in equal measure. He is also on the FSA list of approved Counsel.

Kevin Hegarty QCCall 1982Silk 2010Recorder 2003Head of Chambers

Kevin is a regulatory and financial crime specialist. His approach is particularly

suited to cases involving a lot of complexity because his preparation is so

extensive as to give him an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of the issues.

He is a member of the Health and Safety Lawyers Association and the UK

Environmental Lawyers Association and has a Masters Degree in Health and

Safety and Environmental Law. His current caseload includes acting in a pollution

case for offences under Section 85 of the Water Resources Act and defending a

subsidiary of an Austrian company for breaches of the Health and Safety at Work

Act. He has also appeared in cases involving manslaughter by gross negligence

including a case concerned with dichloromethane poisoning and another

concerning the death of an epileptic in a nursing home where breach of duty was

involved.

His expertise in Environmental Law includes waste law, carbon emissions, and

emissions control. His Masters dissertation examined the effectiveness of emission

trading schemes in the EU and the USA.

Financial crime makes up the other component part of Kevin's practice. Money

laundering, fraud and confiscation are examples of the kinds of cases involving

numerous parties in which Kevin frequently acts. He enjoys grappling with the

detail of transactions so as to have a fine grasp of the evidence and its defects.

Kevin is on the FSA list of approved Counsel and is one of only a few on the

Attorney General's List of Special Counsel.

Andrew Lockhart QCCall 1991Silk 2010Recorder 2005

The core areas of Andrew’s practice are murder, manslaughter, and very complex

drug cases. He regularly acts in trials of serious organised crime groups

concerning large-scale importation and distribution of drugs, and money

laundering.

His murder cases involve domestic killings as well as gang related shootings. He

has litigated some of the first cases to be heard under the new provisions relating

to the partial defences to murder.

Andrew has considerable expertise in business and financial crime. He comes

"highly recommended" for fraud matters by The Legal 500 2011 Edition and is

regularly involved in long firm frauds and advanced fee consumer fraud trials.

He also acts where breaches of health and safety legislation have resulted in death

and other complex regulatory matters. Aside from his huge experience, Andrew is

noted for his prompt and meticulous preparation of cases.

Francis Laird QCCall 1986Silk 2011Recorder 2010

Francis, described recently as “a fearless advocate and a great lawyer” specialises

in defending serious and complex crime. He has vast experience of

murder/manslaughter cases, serious and organised gangland crime, serious

sexual offences, armed robbery cases and complex fraud and corruption cases.

In recent years he has defended in a number of high profile cases including R v

Turner and others [the “M40 murder”]; R v Price and others, the “whodunit” murder

of a prominent male model; R v Johnson and others, the notorious conspiracy to

steal antiques from stately homes [£80 million stolen] and R v Sidhu a multi million

pound corruption case involving employees of the Learning and Skills Council.

His flexible and approachable working style sets him apart from others. Solicitors

regularly praise his ability to work closely with junior counsel and instructing

solicitors. He is considered to be a “team player” of the highest quality.

Francis also has developed a niche practice in defending those charged with

criminal offences committed on aircraft.

Richard Atkins QCCall 1989Silk 2011Recorder 2005

Richard is head of the St Philips Criminal Group and specialises in serious crime

and quasi-criminal matters, having what he describes as an “F-word” practice:

fatality, filth and fraud. He has extensive experience in murder (including high profile

gang related killings and domestic homicide) and manslaughter cases (both gross

negligence and unlawful act), serious sexual cases and complex multi-defendant

high value frauds. He also has considerable experience of health and safety work;

DTI cases; has prosecuted for the SFO; is on the FSA list of approved Counsel;

has defended in Serious Organised Crime Agency prosecutions; and has dealt

with numerous licensing matters.

Richard sits as a Crown Court Recorder on the Midland Circuit, and is one of a

small number authorised to try serious sexual offences. He is also an Advocacy

Trainer for the Midland Circuit and Gray’s Inn.

Away from the law, he is a member of the General Management Committee of the

Bar Council and is Chairman of the Bar Council Member Services Board. He is also

Vice Chairman of the Governors of the Coventry School Foundation, comprising of

King Henry VIII and Bablake Schools.

Contacting us

Joe WilsonChief Clerk

T +44 (0)121 246 2136M +44 (0)7894 386 358E jwilson@st-philips.com

James TurnerSenior Criminal Clerk

T +44 (0)121 246 2052M +44 (0)7809 583 912E jturner@st-philips.com

St Philips Chambers55 Temple RowBirminghamB2 5LSDX 723240 Birmingham 56

T +44 (0)121 246 7000f +44 (0)121 246 7001E crime@st-philips.com

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Areas of Practice

Homicide

Complex and Organised Crime

Fraud and Financial Regulation

Restraint and Confiscation

Corporate and Gross Negligence Manslaughter

International Crime and Courts Martial

Serious Sexual Offences

Prison and Parole Boards

Safety, Health and Environmental (SHE)

Public Enquiries and Inquests

Licensing

Trading Standards and Consumer Regulation

Police Property

Sports Law

VAT and Excise

"A giant of a set, St Philips Chambersoffers criminal expertise as but just one

strand of a greater whole. Its broad spreadof counsel represents quality from pupils

through to silks" Chambers UK Guide

www.st-philips.com