Joe Stone

Overview

Joe Stone specialises in criminal defence and human rights. He graduated from Manchester University in 1985 with a first class degree in Politics and Philosophy. He was called to the Bar in 1989. He has been a registered Pupil Supervisor with the Inner Temple since 2004. Joe has extensive trial experience in allegations of murder, armed robberies involving cash in transit (CIT) vans, possession/use of firearms, Class A drug importations and money laundering with a strong international element. He has regularly represented "target" criminals and those involved with organised crime.

Recent cases

In 2010 he currently holds instructions as lead defence counsel on a multi-handed London gangland murder allegation involving Operation Trident - the specialist Metropolitan Police unit dealing with black on black killings (R v Luis Sobagol). He is also instructed as defence counsel in a multi-handed murder allegation from Manchester (R v A) involving an alleged firearms execution of a protected witness under the Serious Organised Crime Act (SOCA).

He was instructed as defence counsel for a female client (R v A) who faced allegations of Attempted Murder / Wounding With Intent - wife attempting to behead her husband with an axe in the family home. The case involved complex issues concerning the admissibility of psychiatric evidence under the new self defence/defence of another provisions contained in section 76 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008. The evidence was ruled admissible and the defendant was subsequently acquitted of all matters at Isleworth Crown Court in August 2010.

He was instructed as defence counsel for the owner of an international freight haulage company who faced allegations of importing substantial quantities of Class A/B drugs into the UK (R v DSJ). The case is described on UK Customs website as "one of the largest importations of ecstasy and amphetamine in recent years". Joe took the case on appeal (having not done the original trial) as an alleged miscarriage of justice. The conviction and 19-year sentence were quashed by the appeal court in July 2010. The case will have a significant impact on the operation of the bad character provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 and all future customs prosecutions concerning the admissibility of bad character evidence.

He was instructed as lead defence counsel for an Asian police officer who faced an allegation of murder by strangling his Asian wife to death with a ligature after thirteen days of marriage in the UK (R v Harjinder Pal). The case involved a detailed understanding of mental health law, the statutory provisions/case law governing fitness to plead/stand trial and psychiatric disposals under the Mental Health Act 1983. He was appointed by the court as specialist defence counsel in these areas to assist the court on the unfitness to plead hearings conducted in front of judge/jury. The case concluded at the Central Criminal Court in June 2010. It attracted widespread publicity in India.

He was instructed as lead defence counsel for a prison inmate in a high profile case alleging Wounding With Intent. The defence involved the alleged systematic torture by prison staff at HMP Frankland (Category A dispersal prison) of Muslim prisoners convicted of the most serious murder and terrorist offences in the UK to date (R v C). The case involved a detailed knowledge of the issues (legal, political and religious) faced by Muslim prisoners inside category A dispersal prisons. There were also complex third party disclosure arguments in relation to confidential documents (extremist monitoring logs) kept by HMP Frankland on convicted Category A prisoners. A large number of inmates (both Muslim and non-Muslim) provided evidence for the defence concerning the troubled history of HMP Frankland from 2007 through to the present. The defendant was acquitted at Newcastle Crown Court in May 2010 of all allegations.

He was instructed as lead defence counsel in the case of a senior US Federal Air Marshall (FAM) accused of rape on a female crew member of the UK Royal Merchant Navy. The defendant was acquitted at the Central Criminal Court in March 2010 after a substantial trial. This was a proactive defence involving leading UK experts being called in the fields of forensic toxicology, human psychopharmacology, DNA, alcohol back-calculation analysis, amnesia and forensic odontology. The case involved a detailed understanding of US criminal law in the field of interrogation, Miranda rights and Beckwith/Garrity guarantees. There were major security and witness anonymity issues given its sensitivity to US international relations with host countries involved in the secretive multi-billion dollar FAM programme. The President of the US was personally briefed on the case. The case attracted substantial media attention in North America and beyond (R v JGB).

In 2009 he was instructed as junior counsel in a high-profile five-defendant gangland murder involving the Metropolitan Police Trident Team (R v Richard Osborne). He has built up over the years extensive knowledge of cases involving firearms and the technical forensic aspects of such murder investigations. He was also instructed as lead defence counsel in relation to a high profile SOCA agreement involving a protected witness giving evidence against defendants accused of being on a firebombing campaign against the homes of officers from the Essex Constabulary (R v E). He was lead defence counsel in a high-profile murder indictment that is now the key authority on facial-mapping evidence and the giving of expert testimony in UK courts (R v Dean Atkins - 2010 Crim.L.R 141).

Career Cases

High-profile publicised cases that he has conducted include:

In 2008 he was instructed as defence counsel in relation to a 15 defendant global cocaine conspiracy involving allegations of importing in excess of 150 kilos of pure cocaine into the UK (R v Michael Mensah-Bonsu). He was also instructed as junior defence counsel for the lead defendant in an 11 defendant murder allegation involving the notorious MDP (Murder Drugs Power) West London Gang. One of the longest running trials to date involving the growing gang culture in London (R v Sheldon Lewis).

In 2007 he represented the lead defendant in relation to a prosecution brought by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) concerning the largest alleged global pharmaceutical product counterfeiting ring in UK legal history - the Pfizer Viagra case (R v Gary Haywood). In 2007 he represented renowned Ghanaian high-life musician Daasebre Gyamenah who was acquitted on allegations of cocaine importation.

In 2006 he was instructed in the most sensitive/serious of supergrass cases to date (R v B) involving the newly formed Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). Other significant cases that year included: Guidance on fixing the minimum term to be served in cases of murder of exceptionally high or particularly high seriousness - R v Neil Jones and others [2006] 2 Cr.App.R (S) 19. Also, a watershed case involving rape of a minor that triggered a national debate on sentencing of sex offenders and the relevance of guidelines on all criminal cases with guilty pleas reductions from the Sentencing Guidelines Council and the double jeopardy principle. This was personally prosecuted by the Attorney General in front of a rare five judge court - Attorney Generals Reference (number 14 and 15 of 2006) - R v Tanya French and Alan Webster [2007] 1 Cr.App.R (S) 40

In 2005 he was instructed in the largest drug importation and money laundering case to date - importation of over £200 million pure cocaine into the UK - involving Scotland Yard's elite and secretive Special Projects Unit (R v Miguel Casal).

In 2004 he was instructed in the importation of over 100 kilos of pure cocaine - involving a wide ranging international operation mounted by UK Customs and Excise in partnership with lead units from Operation Trident (R v Phoebe Doran).

In 2003 he was instructed in the double gunpoint rape of two adults in two separate London churchyards - a case involving the admissibility of pioneering serial attacker profiling evidence (R v Christopher Hodge).

In 2002 he was instructed in the largest customs corruption case to date - siphoning off high grade customs intelligence by a corrupt customs officer for onward transmission to the criminal community (R v Nathaniel Dass).

Joe has represented for many years a large number of diverse foreign nationals who have been accused of importing drugs into LHR (London Heathrow) from South America, the West Indies, West Africa, Pakistan and the Far East. He has dealt with many referrals from "Hibiscus" (the registered charitable trust that supports jailed women overseas). Based upon this previous caseload Joe has extensive practical knowledge of the operational techniques and practices deployed by customs in this field. He has regularly represented "drug supergrasses" and is familiar with the complex rules and procedures surrounding Witness Protection Units (WPU), law enforcement debriefing procedures and immunity/inducement packages under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005.

Joe has a particular interest in miscarriage of justice cases. He has taken several cases involving serious police corruption to the CCRC (Criminal Case Review Commission) on a probono basis. He also deals with death penalty cases and appeals to the Privy Council.

He also works as independent counsel for Fair Trials International (FTI) - the registered charity which allows UK nationals imprisoned abroad to assert their legal rights. Joe drafted appeal grounds in the widely publicised case of Government of Spain v Stephen Toplass (English truck driver wrongfully imprisoned for the importation of over 400 kilos of cannabis resin) that directly led in 2006 to a rarely granted pardon by the Spanish King. He was instructed in 2008 by FTI in Republic of Ghana v Vantansever Cengiz and Yetunde Diya (London schoolgirls indicted with exporting 6 kilos of cocaine from Accra to London) and in 2010 holds instructions in the high profile case of Indian Government (Rajasthan State) v Patrick Thomas Malluzzo (UK national indicted with transporting 19 kilos of cannabis inside India).

Memberships

He is a member of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA).

Year of Call

1989

Education

BA (Hons) First Class

Email Address

j.stone@doughtystreet.co.uk

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Specialist Teams

Member :

• Courts Martial
• Criminal Law
• International Law Group