Sean is ranked in the Legal 500 for Crime and Fraud
Sean represented LF, who appealed a sentence of 27 months...Read more
Sean represents clients charged with heavyweight criminal offences including murder, terrorism, drug supply & importation, rape, human trafficking, and protest-related offences. He is increasingly sought after in serious fraud cases, instructed by high net worth individuals in complex matters involving substantial sums of money.
Sean also has an active international criminal law practice. He has previously worked on cases involving war crimes and crimes against humanity in The Hague, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and Cambodia and was recently instructed to compile evidence of Israeli war crimes in Gaza.
Sean holds a doctorate in International Criminal Law, lectures university students on the substantive and procedural aspects of international law, and is on the list of Approved Assistants to Counsel at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Sean is qualified to accept instructions directly from members of the public on the Direct Access Scheme.
What the directories say
“Sean's advocacy is clear and concise, as is his advice to the client, both oral and written. He is thorough in his preparation.” – Legal 500, 2026
“Sean is extremely thorough in his preparation and is excellent in his client care. He can make difficult arguments in court and challenge the prosecution. He deals particularly well with family members who are distraught at the proceedings and is meticulous in his legal arguments and attention to detail.” – Legal 500, 2025
Before the Bar
Before coming to the Bar, Sean was with the Foreign Office, negotiating on behalf of the United Kingdom in the Council of the European Union. Based in Brussels for five years, he also worked as a Political Advisor in the European Parliament and within the Cabinet of a European Commissioner. He also worked at the ICC during the Lubanga war crimes trial, as well as with the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency, and human rights organisations based in Cambodia and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Murder
R v B & Others [2026] Old Bailey – Led Junior. The defendant is charged with conspiracy to murder following a knife attack in South London that left one person dead and another seriously injured. The case is ongoing.
R v H & Others [2025] Old Bailey – Prosecuted by Silk & Junior, the defendant is charged alone with perverting the course of justice. His co-defendants are charged with murder following a shooting in South London. The case is ongoing.
R v S & Others [2025] Southwark Crown Court – Prosecuted by Silk & Junior, the defendant was charged with the supply of class A drugs while his co-defendants were charged with murder. The defendant arranged a drug deal that went wrong leading to a stabbing at a West London railway station.
Terrorism
R v A [2025] Manchester Crown Court – Arrested on Terrorism charges having been found with a backpack containing a machete and zombie-style knife, the defendant strangled the interviewing officer while shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’. The case was listed at the Old Bailey before being sent to Manchester. Reported here.
R v S & Others [2025] Birmingham Crown Court – Charged with terrorism following the decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, the defendants are accused of shutting down a factory manufacturing parts for F-35 fighter planes which are then sold to Israel.
Firearms
R v P & Another [2025] Reading Crown Court – The defendant was accused of sourcing tens of thousands of pounds worth of firearms, which are then converted in illicit firearms factories and sold throughout the UK to street gangs and drug dealers. The case is ongoing.
R v M & Others [2023] Winchester Crown Court – Operation Cavalier. Led in a multi-handed firearms case on behalf of the lead defendant, who was alleged to have travelled to the home of a rival family and discharged a shotgun in the course of violent disorder.
Fraud & Bribery
R v S & Another [2025] Leicester Crown Court – The defendant was accused of bribing a multinational office supplies company employee in exchange for lucrative contracts in excess of £1.5 million. The prosecution case collapsed on day 3 of the trial following legal argument and not guilty verdicts were entered.
R v M & Others [2025] Nottingham Crown Court – Instructed in a multimillion pound fraud, the defendants accused of defrauding HMRC of undeclared income in excess of £8 million. The case is ongoing.
R v K & Another [2024] Inner London Crown Court – The defendant was charged with fraudulently processing transactions for gold bullion as part of a fraud valued in excess of £1.3 million. He was acquitted after a 12-day trial.
R v M & Others [2024] Sheffield Crown Court – Operation Novel. Led in a multi-handed VAT fraud, involving the use of rebated fuel and the evasion of tax spanning multiple haulage companies.
R v A & Others [2024] St Albans Crown Court – The defendant was charged with conspiring with others to defraud elderly and vulnerable people of their savings in a sophisticated courier fraud. The defendant was acquitted at the end of a 2-week trial. One co-defendant pleaded guilty before the close of the Crown’s case and another was convicted by the jury.
Protest
R v S & Others [2025] Birmingham Crown Court – Charged with terrorism following the decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, the defendants were accused of shutting down a factory manufacturing parts for F-35 fighter planes which are then sold to Israel. The case is ongoing.
R v PR & Others [2025] Southwark Crown Court – Prosecuted by Silk & Junior, the defendant was the first on an indictment alleging a Just Stop Oil conspiracy to shut down the M25 for four days in 2022.
R v C [2024] Southwark Crown Court – The defendant, an independent journalist, was arrested during the Covid-19 protests and charged with assaulting two police officers. After 4 days of evidence and careful examination of footage from the scene, he was acquitted of both counts.
Rape
R v D [2025] Manchester Crown Court – It was alleged that the defendant had groomed the younger man over the course of 2 years. The defendant was acquitted in under 2 hours by a jury at Manchester Crown Court following a 2-week trial. He would have been at risk of a double-figure sentence on conviction.
R v L [2025] Aylesbury Crown Court - Charged with three counts of rape, trial involved the cross-examination of 11 prosecution witnesses, exploring various motives for the complainant to lie. The defendant was found not guilty after a 5 day trial.
R v A [2023] Kingston-Upon Thames Crown Court – The defendant faced allegations of historic sexual assault over a number of years, beginning when his niece was as young as 5 years old.
Drugs
R v W [2025] Isleworth Crown Court – The defendant was charged with attempting to import of over 10kg of Ketamine from the UK into Japan. The case is ongoing.
R v M & Others [2021] St Albans Crown Court – Operation Topaz. Led junior in a class A drugs conspiracy involving the large-scale supply of Cocaine throughout England. The case involved analysis of data from encrypted EncroChat mobile phones, and drug supply valued at many millions of pounds.
R v A & Others [2021] Gloucester Crown Court – Conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine across the west of England and Midlands, to the value of over half a million pounds. The case involved extensive cell-site data and mobile phone evidence.
Violence
R v Z & Others [2024] Birmingham Crown Court – Prosecuted by Silk & Junior, each defendant was charged with violent disorder following a street brawl in Birmingham in 2019 [reported here]. After extensive legal argument, the jury were discharged on day 9 of the trial and the Crown offered no evidence in respect of all 8 defendants.
R v C [2024] Maidstone Crown Court – The defendant was charged with s.18 GBH with intent following a revenge attack on a fellow member of the travelling community. Various pieces of key evidence were excluded following legal argument, and the defendant was acquitted by a jury within the hour.
R v K [2024] Croydon Crown Court – The defendant was charged with s.18 GBH with intent, having been accused of punching his 62-year-old neighbour repeatedly to the face, shattering his nose. During cross-examination, the neighbour told the jury that he had never been violent to women. The complainant’s previous convictions for violence to women were adduced in a credibility case involving a defendant of good character. He was acquitted after 5 days.
R v R & Others [2022] Southampton Crown Court – GBH trial of four defendants, after the complainant was hospitalised with serious injuries. The GBH count was thrown out following halftime submissions, and a Not Guilty verdict returned by the jury on the alternative ABH count. R ran ‘defence of another’ and was the only defendant to be acquitted of all charges following trial.
Theft
R v K & Others [2024] Croydon Crown Court – The defendant was first on an indictment charging three people with aggravated burglary. He was said to have forced entry wearing a balaclava and held a knife to the complainant’s throat, before ransacking her property and stealing her belongings. The defendant was acquitted of all counts after a 7-day trial.
R v M & Others [2022] Leicester Crown Court – Operation Gearbox. A conspiracy involving the acquisition of stolen car parts for international exportation on an industrial scale – the value of which stretched into many millions of pounds. Case involving over 1000 pages of witness statements and circa 300,000 pages of evidence. The defendant was acquitted after a nine-week trial.
Trafficking
R v AL [2020] Canterbury Crown Court – Facilitating illegal immigration case in which earlier guilty pleas were vacated following legal argument, and Not Guilty verdicts entered in their place. This followed shortly after the leading case of R v Kakaei [2021] EWCA Crim 503.
Criminal Appeals
R v F [2025] Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) – Sentence of 27 months for GBH quashed and substituted for 20 months. The judge had erred in miscategorising the offending and had failed to give proper weight to mitigating factors. The appellant was released time served.
R v L [2025] Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) – Sentence for distribution of indecent images was reduced by 40% and a 10-year SHPO was quashed in its entirety. Nominated and assigned by the Registrar of Criminal Appeals.
R v O [2025] Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) – Sentence for s.18 GBH reduced after the court agreed that the slip rule had been misused. The appropriate reduction for time served was applied.
