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Tom is a specialist criminal defence barrister with extensive experience of both Crown Court and appellate advocacy. Tom also has an expanding practice within the field of professional discipline and regulatory law, regularly appearing before a wide range of healthcare tribunals including the GDC, NMC and HCPC.

Criminal defence:

Within the field of criminal defence Tom is frequently entrusted to handle complex and serious cases covering a wide range of offences from high value frauds and those involving extreme violence to multi-handed drug trafficking cases and sexual offences, both recent and historic. Examples of some of Tom’s recent instructions include:

  • R v AN [Kingston CC – 2015]: Led by Rebecca Trowler Q.C in the defence of a man charged with conspiracy to facilitate fraudulent asylum claims [the case is listed for 3 months with over 12,000 pages of evidence]

  • R v ND [Snaresbrook CC – 2014]: Led by David Bentley Q.C. in the defence of a man charged with conspiracy to possess firearms with intent to endanger life. The case involved three weeks of complex legal argument on bad character evidence relating to gang membership. Following the trial, Tom also appeared before the Court of Appeal as a result of the sentences imposed being subject to an A.G. Reference.

  • R v JD [Manchester CC - 2015]: Defence of a man charged with several counts of rape. This case involved careful cross-examination of a complainant with a history of mental illness and learning difficulties.

  • R v AF [Newcastle CC – 2014]: Defence of a man charged with causing GBH with Intent. The case involved an alleged assault on a well-known actor and consequently received national press coverage.

  • R v GM [Birmingham CC – 2015]: Defence of an 18 year old asylum seeker, originally charged with attempted murder, which was later dropped to wounding with Intent, involving a knife attack in the home.

  • R v DC [Liverpool CC – 2015]: Defence of a man charged with a serious armed robbery involving a group attack with a machete.

  • R v LJ [Birmingham CC – 2015]: Defence of a man charged with armed robbery and kidnap.

  • R v CO [Southwark CC – 2015]: Defence of a man charged with conspiracy to import class A drugs.

Please see below for further examples of other serious cases in which Tom has appeared.

Professional discipline and regulation:

Within the field of professional discipline and regulatory law Tom has developed considerable experience advising and representing a wide range of medical and healthcare practitioners including nurses, midwives, speech and language therapists, physiotherapists and biomedical scientists before their respective disciplinary tribunals. He appears frequently before the fitness to practice committees of the NMC and HCPC in particular. Expanding on this work, Tom is now also regularly instructed to appear in cases before the GDC and advices on a wide range of issues from appeal to Rule 10 applications.

Given his expertise in criminal defence cases (where he has represented a number of professionals charged with criminal offences from teachers and doctors to healthcare workers), Tom is particularly well placed to deal with professional discipline matters involving quasi-criminal allegations and has represented Registrants, as well as appearing on behalf healthcare regulators, in conviction cases and those involving serious dishonesty charges.

Before joining Doughty Street Tom advised in several cases brought by the GMC, GDC, RPhS [as it was then] and the GSCS. In addition, he worked on the Mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust Public Inquiry chaired by Robert Francis QC and acted as temporary junior counsel in the case of Dr Al-Zayatt (the Consultant Paediatrician in the “Baby P” case) before the GMC.

Tom is also heavily involved in training in relation to healthcare regulation; most recently he has advised on the procedures involved in Interim Order Hearings before the NMC and he was invited to speak on the application of the public interest test within the context of Investigation Committee decisions within the GDC.

For examples of some of Tom’s recent instructions within the field of professional discipline, please see those listed in the ’Professional Discipline and Regulation’ section below.

Publications

Tom is a contributory author in the soon to be published ‘The Drug Offences Handbook’ [published by ‘Bloomsbury’], where he has written chapters on offences involving possession, supply and the importation of controlled drugs. Tom is also a contributory author in the second edition of LAG's 'Professional discipline and healthcare regulators - a legal handbook', where he has written a chapter on the practice and procedures involved in fitness to practice hearings before the General Pharmaceutical Council. 

Background

Before commencing pupillage, Tom worked as researcher for the Ministry of Justice, producing a report on international comparators for the Speaker's Conference on Parliamentary Representation. The conference considered the disparity between the representation of women, ethnic minorities and disabled people in the House of Commons and their representation in the UK population at large. He subsequently worked as a legal advisor for OFSTED, the Government body that regulates children's services and schools, dealing with complaints and investigations.

After university and prior to his legal training, Tom established and ran a small media production company, which specialised in making educational documentaries and training films on meeting special educational needs.

Professional Discipline and Regulation

Tom is regularly instructed to appear on behalf of Registrants before Interim Order Committees, Professional Conduct and Health Committees as well as acting as a case presenter on behalf of the GDC. Some of Tom’s most recent instructions include:

  • NMC v MM [2015]: Instructed to represent a senior staff nurse charged with gross negligence manslaughter.

  • GDC v AR [2015]: Instructed to represent the GDC in a case where a dental nurse is said to have performed a surgical facelift on a member of the public, outside the scope of her practice.

  • GDC v DL [2015]: Instructed to represent the GDC in a case involving allegations of serious misconduct, flowing from a conviction for theft, which lead to a dental nurse being imprisoned.

  • GDC v C&G [2015] Instructed to represent the GDC in a case involving allegations of violence in a dental hospital, involving two dental nurses.

  • GDC v AT [2015] Instructed to represent the GDC in a case where the registrant faced an allegation of misconduct having extracted a tooth without informed consent

  • NMC v ST [2014]: Instructed to represent a senior midwife who faced seriously allegations of dishonesty following a conviction for a significant fraud.

  • NMC v CF [2014]: Instructed to represent a recently qualified nurse in a case concerning allegations of misconduct, following the death by suicide of a psychiatric patient in her case.

  • HCPC v SW [2014]: Instructed to represent a MoD physiotherapist in a case concerning allegations of misconduct born out of a criminal conviction for assault and failing to notify regulators of previous convictions/cautions.

  • HCPC v ON [2014]: instructed to represent a speech and language therapist who had been dismissed from her post having faced claims of serious failings in record keeping and breaches relating to patient confidentiality.

  • HCPC v OA [2014]: instructed to represent a biomedical scientist accused of a range of clinical failings in the field of emergency blood transfusion.

  • NMC v AS [2014]: instructed to represent a recently qualified nurse in a case involving various allegations, ranging from claims the registrant had plagiarised another’s work through to a charge that she had administered IV medication unsupervised without having passed the requisite assessments.

Criminal Appeals

Tom regularly advises on fresh appeals against both conviction and sentence. Most recently he has adviced on appeals against convictions for offences including rape, armed robbery and cannabis cultivation as well as advising on the sentencing provisions under LASPO.

Some of the cases where Tom has appeared before the Court of Appeal include:

  • A-G's Ref (Nos 4-8 of 2014) [2014] EWCA Crim 651
: Represented a man whose original sentence for possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life was referred on the grounds it was unduly lenient.

  • R v Scott (Jason Samuel) [2014] EWCA Crim 1704: Appeal against sentence for possession with intent to supply class A drugs.

  • R v Chunu Ali [2013] EWCA Crim 17: Successful appeal against sentence for theft from a person.

  • R v Wayne Flack [2011] EWCA Crim 1112 - Successful appeal against sentence for handling stolen goods.

Protest Cases

Tom has significant experience in conducting cases arising from protest at the Magistrates’ Court and Crown Court. Some of the cases Tom has been involved in include:

  • R v SG [Southampton MC]: Defence of the so called ”naked rambler” charged with various POA offences

  • R v FF [Kingston CC]: Defence of a student convicted of violent disorder during the TUC March of 2011. The case was reported in the national press.

  • R v PS [Margate MC]: Defence of a live animal export protestor charged with breaching a s14 notice.

  • R v MW [Thames MC]: Defence of a journalist charged with an assault allegedly linked to the Leyton Marsh protests.

  • R v TT and Others [Hammersmith MC]: Defence of a student charged with breaching a s14 notice.

  • R v CP & Ors [Westminster MC]: Defence of 3 out of 16 protesters, campaigning agsinst government austerity measures, all charged with a s5 POA offence.

  • R v ZM [Hammersmith YC]: Defence of 16 year old student charged with assaulting a police officer during the Occupy London protests.

Other Serious Criminal Offences
  • R v SB [Oxford CC – 2015]: Defence of a man charged with possession with intent to supply class A drugs; the case involved expert evidence on the PTSD and the impact such had on the reliability of the defendant’s interview.

  • R v MT [Harrow CC – 2015]: Defence of a man charged with aggravated burglary

  • R v PW [Carlisle CC – 2015]: Defence of a man charged with multiple counts of sexual assault

  • R v AW & Ors [Carlisle CC – 2015]: Defence of a man charged with conspiracy to supply class A drugs between Scotland and England over a period of a year.

  • R v KF [Woolwich CC – 2014]: Defence of a man charged with wounding with intent, involving a glass bottle attack.

  • R v GP [Woolwich CC – 2014]: Defence of a man charged with ABH and affray, later sentenced under the provisions of LASPO.

  • R v LF [Guildford CC – 2014]: Defence of a young man with significant learning difficulties charged with possession of an offensive weapon and affray.

  • R v BM [Woolwich CC – 2014]: Defence of a man charged with wounding with intent, involving an alleged attack on his partner.

  • R v FS [Bolton CC – 2014]: Defence of an elderly man, of previous good character, charged with affray and various counts of possession of an offensive weapon.

  • R v NB [Snaresbrook CC [2014]: Defence of a man charged with a gang street robbery

  • R v JD & Ors [CCC - 2012]: Privately instructed to represent a 65 year old man charged alongside two others with possession with intent to supply class A drugs.

  • R v IM [Liverpool CC - 2012]: Defence of a man charged with wounding with intent and possession of an offensive weapon, involving an alleged knife attack by a pub landlord on a customer.

  • R v DH [Bolton CC - 2012]: Defence of a man charged with wounding with intent involving a knife attack and a further charge of aggravated burglary.

  • R v GE [Hull CC - 2012]: Instructed to represent a man with significant learning difficulties charged alongside one other with causing GBH, robbery and witness intimidation. The case made use of numerous intermediaries

  • R v JM  [Harrow CC – 2011]:Defence of a man charged with causing GBH with intent, involving an alleged hammer attack on a man diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

  • R v RW & Ors [Snaresbrook CC [2011]: Sole junior counsel for one of 15 defendants charged with conspiracy to supply crack cocaine and heroin, in a case tried over 7 weeks with over 10,000 pages of evidence.

Homicide and Related Grave Offences
  • R v DG [Bristol CC – 2015]: Defence of a man charged with conspiracy to blackmale and conspiracy to engaged in sexual activity without consent.

  • R v JJ [Newcastle CC – 2015]: Defence of a man charged with causing GBH with intent, involving an attack in the home with use of multiple weapons.

  • R v PA [Blackfriars CC – 2015]: Defence of an man charged with assault by penetration, said to have occured on a night bus

  • R v DC [Newcastle CC – 2015]: Defence of an man alleged to have been involved in a group armed robbery.

  • R v TG [Wood Green CC – 2014]: Defence of a man charged with multiple firearms offences.

  • R v AM [Snaresbrook CC – 2014]: Defence of an 18 year old male charged with wounding with intent and armed robbery.

  • R v JL [Manchester Minshull Street CC – 2014]: Defence of a man charged with multiple counts of historic sexual assault on children, said to have occured in the 1970s

  • R v MR [Woolwich CC – 2013] – Defence of a man charged with three counts of rape and two further counts of ABH.

  • R v NF [Southwark CC - 2013]: Defence of a man charged with conspiracy to commit blackmail; possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and threats to kill.

  • R v DY [Bromley YC 2013]: Defence of a 14 year old boy charged with rape of a schoolgirl.

Regulatory and Financial Crime
  • HSE v CC [High Wycombe MC - 2015]: Defence of a care home charged with various breaches of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007.

  • R v AJ [Oxford CC – 2015]: Defence of a man charged with fraud and multiple breaches of Trading Standards Regulations.

  • R v CP [Gloucester CC – 2014]: Defence of a man charged with conspiracy to steal, involving the alleged targeting of ATMs by a criminal gang over a 1 year period.

  • R v AM & Ors [Winchester CC – 2014]: Defence of a man charged with conspiracy to handle stolen good, in a case involving 9 co-defendants.

  • R v HM & Ors [Winchester CC – 2014]: Defence of a man charged with various trademark offences, also instructed to defence in the POCA proceedings that followed.

  • R v GN [Birmingham CC [2012]: POCA proceedings stemming from a conviction for conspiracy to supply class A drugs over a 3 year period, involving an alleged benefit figure of over £900,000.