Appellate

Overview

Members of the team are instructed regularly at the appellate level to advise in relation to applications to the Criminal Cases Review Commission and to appear before the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division), the Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights.

We have members who regularly lecture on appellate topics and the second edition of Taylor on Criminal Appeals, the leading specialist practitioner textbook in this area, is currently being written by Paul Taylor and a number of members of the Criminal Team (due to be published by OUP in 2011).

Our extensive knowledge of appellate procedure means that we can advise solicitors at all stages of the appeal process.

The cases we undertake often involve complex legal issues and members of the Criminal Team regularly appear in many of the landmark cases in which the fundamental principles in criminal law are established, developed and clarified.

Members have represented lay clients convicted of offences ranging from the relatively minor to those in notorious high profile miscarriage of justice cases including The Birmingham Six, the Guildford Four, Winston Silcott, the Cardiff Three, the Carl Bridgewater Three, Derek Bentley (executed at the age of 19), Stephen Downing (released after having served 27 years in prison), Andrew Evans (who served 25 years), Michael Stone, Harry Mackenney (released after 17 years having been told that he was subject to a whole life tariff and would die in prison), and Kenneth Erskine ("The Stockwell Strangler" convicted of 7 counts of murder). We have built up a particular expertise in cases involving mentally disordered offenders and psychiatric issues.

Cases

A representative selection of recent appeals cases includes:-

European Court of Human Rights

• Al-Khawaja and Tahery v United Kingdom - Grand Chamber of European Court of Human Rights June 2010: appeal by Government from decision of the section of the Court that a conviction based upon sole or decisive hearsay evidence is incompatible with Article 6 of the ECHR. Judgment reserved.
  
  
• Horncastle v United Kingdom - Application in 2010 to European Court of Human Rights following the decision of the Supreme Court [2009] UKSC 14 in which the court declined to follow the decision of the European Court of Human Rights in Al-Khawaja and Tahery.
  
  
• Pomfrett - On appeal in 2010 to the European Court of Human Rights. Challenge to the compatibility with Article 6 of the Pendleton jury impact test in fresh evidence appeals in complex fraud cases.

Supreme Court / House of Lords

• R v Chaytor and Ors [2010] UKSC 52 Supreme Court - MPs accused of expenses fraud; the ambit of parliamentary privilege.
  
  
• Jobe. R v G; R v J [2009] UKHL 13 - in which the House of Lords clarified the ingredients of the offences under s57 and s58 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
  
  
• R v Kennedy [2009] House of Lords - unlawful act manslaughter & causation.
  
  
• R v G [2008] 1 WLR 1379, House of Lords, an appeal concerned with whether (i) the presumption of innocence enshrined in Article 6(2) of the European Convention on Human Rights is concerned with not only procedural but also substantive law and (ii) the prosecution / conviction of a child for consensual but underage sexual activity is in breach Article 8. Currently on appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.
  

Court of Appeal

• R v Twomey, Blake, Cameron and Hibberd [2011] EWCA Crim 8 - The first juryless trial.
  
  
• R v T [2010] EWCA Crim 2439 - A successful murder appeal involving a seminal judgment on the use of statistical evidence in footwear cases.
  
  
• Williams (Dean) [2010] (Continuing) - Murder conviction. Challenging the psychiatric evidence prepared at trial on the basis of bias and questions of competence of the psychiatrist.
  
  
• R v Otway [2010] - admissibility of 'forensic gait analysis' to prove identification.
  
  
• Robert Lewis [2010] EWCA Crim 151. Unlawful act manslaughter. Issues of foreseeability, causation and trial judge's directions.
  
  
• R v Habib Ahmed [2010] - UK complicity in torture (judgment awaited).
  
  
• Broughton [2010] appeal concerning a bombing campaign in opposition to Oxford University's animal experimentation laboratory. The appeal included the first legal challenges within this jurisdiction to new groundbreaking techniques for analysing low template DNA evidence.
  
  
• R v Vestuto, Court of Appeal, [2010] - plea and sentence appeal for mother causing death of toddler by administration of adult sedative drugs.
  
  
• R v Jones (James) [2010] EWCA Crim 925 - Appeal against conviction on Incitement to produce cannabis charge. Police entrapment and meaning of "Incitement".
  
  
• Madden [2010] EWCA Crim 2258 - Sentence appeal against minimum term in murder case based on fresh psychiatric evidence.
  
  
• Kenneth Erskine [2009] 2 Cr. App. R. 29;[2010] Crim. L.R. 48; (2009) 153(28) S.J.L.B. 30; Times, July 22, 2009 - Mr. Erskine was convicted of 7 murders and an attempted murder in 1988. He was known by the media as the "Stockwell Strangler." The appeal against the conviction was based on fresh psychiatric evidence relating to his mental state at the time of the killings and trial. The grounds were that the murder convictions should be quashed, and manslaughter convictions and a hospital order substituted on the basis that his responsibility was significantly diminished and / or that he was unfit to plead. Appeal succeeded.
  
  
• Rajesh Dass [2009] EWCA Crim 1208 - Mr. Dass killed his grandparents and uncle in 1998. Appealed against 3 murder convictions on the basis of fresh psychiatric evidence.
  
  
• R v Girma [2009] EWCA Crim 912 (the 21/7 bombing and admission of previous convictions at trial).
  
  
• R v Karimi and James [2009] ( 5 judge Court of Appeal giving definitive ruling on provocation post R v Holley in the Privy Council).
  
  
• R v Evans [2009] EWCA Crim 2243 (CCRC reference concerning recalled memories).
  
  
• R v Avery and Ors, animal rights protestor / SHAC case. Pursuing appeal to European Court of Human Rights from Court of Appeal [2009] EWCA Crim 2670 against the imposition of an ASBO prohibiting lawful demonstration against animal experimentation for indefinite period.
  
  
• R v Brett - Unsuccessful prosecution Court of Appeal application to quash jury acquittal.
  
  
• Derek Symmons [2009] EWCA Crim 654; (2009) 173 C.L. & J. 270; [2009] EWCA Crim 1304; (2009) 153(27) S.J.L.B. 28. -Mr. Symmons killed his wife. His appeal against murder conviction was based on fresh psychiatric evidence relating to his fitness to give evidence at trial, provocation and diminished responsibility. Sentence appeal was based on length of minimum term which may result in defendant dying in prison.
  
  
• John Derek Evans [2009] EWCA Crim 2243 - Murder appeal. Conviction based on guilty plea. Grounds centred on wrong legal advice by trial counsel, recovered memories, provocation and diminished responsibility. Four experts gave evidence at appeal hearing.
  
  
• R v Firkins [2008] EWCA Crim 2981 (The Wadebridge farm double murder of elderly couple).
  
  
• R v Nguyen [2008] 2 CrAppR 99 - Important decision re: "bad character" provisions of CJA 2003 and admissibility of unprosecuted allegations.