Christopher Sallon QC specialises in high-profile, general crime, with a focus on corporate fraud, cases which involve medicine and forensic science, appellate work, regulatory and disciplinary work, health and safety and extradition.
What the directories say
He is a recommended specialist fraud and general crime practitioner in Chambers and Partners 2011 Directory which describes him as a "brilliant trial lawyer with a lovely court manner" and praised his "engaging advocacy style".
The latest edition of Legal 500 describes Christopher as "an incisive cross-examiner and a fantastic jury advocate".
He is licensed by the Bar Standards Board to accept public access work
Bribery and Corruption
Christopher is regularly called on to advise companies on compliance and the regulatory impact of the Bribery Act 2011. He's presently acting for the Managing Director of a Swiss based company in Network Rail corruption case.
In the last year, he acted on behalf of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, prosecuting a case of bribery and corruption involving a former minister, and advising in the prosecution of a company charged with a conspiracy to defraud the government in relation to the construction of a multi-million dollar water desalination plant.
Corporate and general fraud
He is presently acting for the defence in R v Greest and others (Conspiracy to defraud Commertzbank). Past fraud cases of note include R v Fisher (Jubilee Line fraud); R v Shaun Lynch (conspiracy to defraud Betfair).
Parliamentary work
In 2007, he was appointed Specialist Adviser to the Public Administration Select Committee of the House of Commons in relation to their Enquiry into Propriety and Honours, and his written advice in relation to the reforming the law in relation to corruption is annexed to the Committee's Second Report 2007-8. He was also appointed Counsel to the Constitutional Affairs Committee's Enquiry into Party Funding.
Medical and forensic science work
Christopher represented the Forensic Science Service in the Home Office Review into forensic work carried out during the investigation into the death of Damilola Taylor. He currently advises forensic service providers on regulatory matters, data protection and related criminal justice issues. Recent cases include:
- R v Stretch and Puttock. Acting for the FSS on issues of Crown Court disclosure and confidentiality.
- R v Reed, Reed and Garmson Advising the FSS in appeal on methodology and admissibility of DNA evidence in England and Wales.
- In the matter of the Forensic Science Service and the Metropolitan Police Advising the FSS on data protection for DNA samples.
Christopher serves as a member of the Independent Advisory Group of the Forensic Science Service.
Defence work in cases involving medical or scientific issues - R v Ruby Thomas and another. Defending in Trafalgar Square homophobic manslaughter. Issue: Brain injury/causation
- R v Wadsworth and another. Successful defence of former bank employee who stole £1m in cash. Issue: Duress, clinical depression and PTSD.
- R v Edward Erin (Court of Appeal) Appeal by consultant convicted of administering poison to his mistress in an attempt to terminate her pregnancy.
Other notable cases include:
- R v Graham Coutts Murder retrial after a successful appeal to the House of Lords. Medical issue: breath control/ accidental strangulation
- R v Siôn Jenkins Charged with murder of foster daughter Billie Jo. Retrials involved multi-disciplinary and complex scientific and medical evidence.
Appellate work includes:
- R v Powell, R v English (House of Lords) Redefining the doctrine of joint enterprise in murder
- The State v Charles and others (Privy Council) Joint enterprise.
- R v Williams Yemoh and others Appeal on secondary party liability in murder /manslaughter
- R v Cornwall Appeal on bias following service of journalist on jury in murder trial.
Recent disciplinary work - GDC v Gagoh Defending dentist for failing to remove drugs, waste and confidential files from premise.
- GMC v Winehouse Advising doctor in future fitness to practice proceedings
- GMC v Tan Defending doctor charged with disciplinary offences alleging misrepresentation.
Lecturing
2009/10 lectures include Confiscation and Asset Recovery Across Borders and Civil Recovery Orders (Butterworths Conference); New Corporate Offence in Bribery Bill (Doughty Street/Bindman Conference); Criminal Breaches of Copyright ; Expert Evidence in Criminal Trials (Bond Solon Expert Witness Conference); Forensic Medicine and Science in Criminal Trials (Trinidad and Tobago Criminal Bar Association). He has lectured at universities throughout the United States, including Yale and Stanford in 2007, on trial advocacy and comparative civil liberty issues, and in 2006 he delivered a William Reece Smith Distinguished Lecture at Stetson University, Florida.
General
Christopher came to the Bar after working for the United Nations in New York. In 1996 he was the first British QC to be elected as an honorary Fellow of the American Board of Criminal Lawyers. He is also a member of the Bar of the Eastern Caribbean. He was a member of the Bar working party appointed to make submissions into the Guildford and Woolwich Bombings and the Roberts Working Party on Serious Fraud.
Formerly the Bar Council's Chairman of Public Affairs, Christopher broadcasts on radio and appears on television. He took part in the BBC's three-part series 'Trial by Jury'. He is a member of the board of the National Campaign for the Arts. He sits as a Recorder of the Crown Court. He was appointed a bencher of Gray's Inn in 2002.
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