Rupert is a very experienced senior junior who has been defending exclusively for the last 14 years. He has considerable recent experience of defending in more evidence heavy cases such as homicides (murder and attempted murder), frauds, drugs conspiracies and firearms offences. He is now regularly instructed in more complex multi-count / multi-defendant cases as leading junior counsel. Rupert is especially comfortable in and enjoys defending in multi-handed cases, particularly when cut-throat defences are involved.
Rupert’s willingness to pursue all legal avenues on behalf of his clients is reflected in the fact that, since 1999, Rupert has appeared in the Court of Appeal Criminal Division on over 110 occasions, usually defending. Of his appeals against conviction, eleven have resulted in the appellant’s convictions being quashed. The three appellants whose convictions were most recently overturned (all the subject of separate appeals) were all separately acquitted at their respective retrials. Rupert has also previously been instructed by the Crown Prosecution Service to represent the Crown’s interests, both in the Divisional Court and in the Court of Appeal.
Rupert’s Crown Court defence practice, which is focused primarily in London and on the South Eastern Circuit, also encompasses sexual crime and, in particular, offences against children, due to Rupert’s experience in dealing with vulnerable people and those with mental health problems. He was one of the first to undertake the Advocacy and the Vulnerable Course run by the Inns of Court.
In the last few years, Rupert has been regularly instructed to represent privately paying defendants, who are either ineligible for legal aid or who prefer to pay privately in order to guarantee continuity of counsel.
Rupert is an extremely thorough advocate who prepares his cases meticulously. He can be robust or sensitive when dealing with witnesses at trial, depending upon what the situation demands. He has a wealth of experience of defending in complex trials, multi-handed or otherwise. He is willing to raise any arguable point of law and enjoys exploring interesting legal issues. He gives his clients practical and comprehensible advice in conference and does not attempt to avoid difficult clients or apparently hopeless cases. If circumstances warrant a guilty plea, Rupert has managed to secure non-custodial disposals in a number of very challenging cases where the custody threshold has often been comprehensively crossed.
Rupert is a qualified pupil supervisor and was the joint head of the chambers pupillage committee for 7 years. He acts as a mentor with the Inner Temple mentoring scheme.
‘Rupert is one of the very best at the criminal Bar, better than many silks. His advocacy is flawless. His cross-examination is pitch perfect… Juries always listen to him.’ (Legal 500, 2024)
‘Rupert is simply fantastic. He is incredibly personable and gets on well with clients. He is fiercely intelligent and leaves no stone unturned in advancing a defence. He is also first class in court; articulate and charismatic in his delivery.’ (Legal 500, 2023)
‘Rupert is very impressive – he is intellectually brilliant. He is a formidable jury advocate and has a wonderful ability to effectively communicate even the most complex cases. He’s a fearless advocate in court and a real fighter. He has the ear of judges.’ (Legal 500, 2021)
‘He cross-examines with tenacity and precision.’ (Legal 500, 2020)
Notable cases
Murder and Homicide
- R v AW [2024–2025] – junior alone – male accused of attempted murder. Victim died during proceedings. G plea to murder – partially successful in trial of issue. Portsmouth CC.
- R v JC [2025] – led junior in Pennyhill Park murder trial. 4½ week trial before High Court judge. Guildford CC.
- R v JB [2024] – junior alone. Secured acquittal of 2 counts of attempted murder after 12 day trial. Inner London CC.
- R v AC [2024] – junior alone. 18 year old acquitted of attempted murder and s.18 following 9 day trial. Lewes CC.
- R v RE [2024] – led junior representing man accused of murder and other violent offences involving ex-partner. 4 week trial at Lewes CC.
- R v SM [2023] – led junior representing female accused of murdering ex’s new lover. 5 week trial at Guildford CC.
- R v MV [2023] – junior alone. 72 year old accused of attempting to murder her daughter. Plea to s.18. Suspended sentence imposed. Winchester CC.
- R v MM [2023] – junior alone representing autistic male accused of attempting to murder his father. Plea to s.18. Lenient sentence. Portsmouth CC.
- T v TG [2021] – led junior representing 16 year old in 4 handed trial. First on indictment. Acquitted of murder, convicted of manslaughter.
Rape & Sexual Offences
- R v DA [2026] – instructed as leading junior to represent Met Police officer charged with multiple sexual offences against 4 ex-partners. Listed for 4 weeks in Guildford CC.
- R v JM [2026] – instructed as leading junior to represent 83 year old accused of 25 counts of historic sexual offences against 9 complainants. 5 week trial at Guildford CC.
- R v CC [2025] – 17 year old accused of raping his best friend. Partial confession. Section 28 cross-examination. Acquitted after 7 day trial at Guildford CC.
- R v JV [2025] – stepfather accused of raping stepdaughter. Jury unable to reach verdicts after 6 day trial. Croydon CC.
- R v FR [2025] – representing teenager with ADHD and subject to a Sexual Risk Order accused of rape and sexual activity with a child. Acquitted of all contact offences after 8 day trial at Guildford CC.
- R v CD [2024] – privately instructed to represent man accused of historical sexual offending from 1980s. Acquitted after 5 day trial at Wood Green CC.
- R v DG [2024] – alleged rape and sexual assault of 14 year old. Section 28 cross-examination. Acquitted after 6 day trial at Guildford CC.
- R v JD [2023] – alleged sexual assault of daughter-in-law. D did not give evidence. Acquitted. Guildford CC.
- R v DJ and another [2023] – leading junior representing one of two brothers accused of historic interfamilial offending over 40 years. 28 counts. Hung jury after 5 week trial at Guildford CC.
- R v EB [2023] – representing Kurdish asylum seeker accused of attempting to rape a sleeping female. Acquitted after 5 day trial at Chichester CC.
- R v LN [2023] – representing married man accused of rape of 14 year old babysitter. Section 28 cross-examination. Acquitted after 5 day trial at Lewes CC.
- R v MS [2022] – leading junior representing vulnerable woman accused of abduction of and sexually interfering with 13 year old runaway. Mixed verdicts following 5 week trial at Guildford CC.
- R v AC [2022] – privately instructed to represent 75 year old grandfather accused of sexually abusing his granddaughter. Section 28 cross-examination. Acquitted after 7 day trial at Inner London CC.
Violent Offences
- R v LB and 4 others [2025] – leading junior representing male with ADHD accused of conspiracy to kidnap, false imprisonment and sexual assault. 5 week trial at Guildford CC.
- R v JR and 3 others [2024] – representing university student accused of serious section 18 GBH. First on indictment. Acquitted after 3 week trial at Portsmouth CC.
- R v DM [2022] – privately instructed to represent prison officer accused of assaulting a young offender in his care. Prosecution discontinued after submission of abuse of process argument.
- R v JPS and another [2022] – representing male accused of causing / allowing baby daughter to suffer GBH where co-def accusing D of serious domestic violence. Negotiated plea to lesser offence. Community order imposed.
- R v OLB and 3 others [2022] – leading junior. 4 handed conspiracy to commit violent robberies of householders in Sussex. 5 week trial in Lewes CC.
- R v AL and 2 others [2021] – representing one of 3 defendants indicted with allegations of child cruelty towards 5 young children. 3 days of section 28 cross-examination. Lenient sentence following 3 weeks trial at Northampton CC.
- R v AB and another [2021] – representing one of 2 defendants charged with causing / allowing baby daughter to suffer GBH. Submission of no case upheld. Convicted of section 20 GBH alternative after 2 week trial at Winchester CC. Suspended sentence due to exceptional circumstances.
Drugs
- R v ES and others [2025] – representing in multi-handed conspiracy to supply Class A. County lines. Defendant was only defendant to be acquitted on all counts following 2 week trial at Guildford CC.
- R v ND and others [2024] – representing alleged corrupt baggage handler at Gatwick Airport accused of conspiracy to import Class A drugs. Acquitted after 9 week trial at Woolwich CC.
- R v GM and 8 others [2022] – representing ‘front man’ in conspiracy to export half a tonne of Class A drugs in arm of Doosan excavator. Cut-throat with co-defendant. Defendant did not give evidence. Acquitted after trial lasting 4 months at Kingston CC.
Firearms
- R v NC and 7 others [2026] – instructed to represent first defendant on indictment in 8 handed conspiracy to possess firearm with intent to endanger life. Listed for 8 weeks at Wood Green Crown Court in June 2026.
- R v AG [2023] – serious offender with relevant previous convictions accused of Class A supply and to purchase firearms via Encrochat. Lenient sentence achieved following negotiated guilty pleas at Guildford CC.
- R v RN [2021] – achieved lenient sentence following late pleas at Southwark CC to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and to purchase / source firearms.
Fraud, Financial & Regulatory
- R v ET and others [2025] – representing male accused of laundering the proceeds of romance fraud (£500,000). 5 handed trial. 6 weeks at Guildford Crown Court.
- R v BK and another [2023–2024] – representing male accused of laundering the proceeds of a boiler room fraud in the sum of £2.6 million. Hung jury achieved following 3 week first trial. Convicted at retrial. Lenient sentence achieved.
Road Traffic
- R v RPJ [2026] – instructed to represent motorcyclist accused of causing death by dangerous driving. Trial listed in Guildford CC in Feb 2027.
- R v GRP [2025] – instructed to represent man accused of causing death by careless driving. Trial listed in Guildford CC in Feb 2026.
- R v CP [2025] – instructed to represent lorry driver accused of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. Trial listed in Guildford CC in Feb 2028.
- R v MH [2024] – suspended sentence achieved for 80 year old man who pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving at Winchester CC.
- R v BN [2024] – secured acquittal of male accused of causing serious injury by dangerous driving following 5 day trial at Winchester CC.
Reported Court of Appeal cases
- R v Stephen Wright-Hadley [2022] – [2022] WLUK 740; [2022] EWCA Crim 446 – analysis of statutory test for making of a deprivation order. Order quashed.
- R v Mizan (Ibrahim) [2021] – [2021] 1 Cr.App.R.(S) 51 – conviction for failing to surrender following deferral of sentence quashed for lack of jurisdiction.
- R v Jackson (David Gareth) [2019] – [2019] 4 W.L.R. 43, CA – judgment of the Vice President of the Court of Appeal clarifying the mens rea ingredients in offences of indecent assault.
- R v NC [2017] – [2017] 1 Cr.App.R.(S) 13; [2017] Crim L.R. 334; [2016] 10 Archbold Review 3, CA – approach of the Crown Court to the making of Sexual Harm Prevention Orders.
- KK v DPP [2016] – [2016] 4 W.L.R. 162; [2016] Crim L.R. 868 – conviction for knifepoint robbery quashed consequent upon the District Judge taking into account inadmissible evidence of a co-defendant who had pleaded guilty and gave evidence in a Newton hearing heard simultaneously to the Appellant’s trial in the Youth Court.
- R v Varma [2013] – [2013] 1 A.C. 463; [2013] 1 Cr.App.R. 115; [2013] Crim L.R. 166; [2012] UKSC 42; The Times, 29/10/12 – junior counsel for the Respondent (on appeal from the Court of Appeal’s reported decision from 2010). The Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeal, ruling that the Crown Court can combine a confiscation order with a conditional discharge.
- R v Wright (Barrington) [2012] – [2012] 2 Cr.App.R.(S) 46(11) – reduction in sentence for a member of the public gallery found in contempt of court for shouting out to his son as a jury found the son guilty of serious offences.
- R v Evans (Scott Lennon) [2012] – [2012] 2 Cr.App.R. 22; [2012] 1 W.L.R. 1192; The Times, 16/1/12; (2012) 176 J.P. 139 – junior counsel for the Crown. Court of Appeal clarified the meaning of surrendering to bail in the Crown Court for the purposes of section 2(2) of the Bail Act 1976.
- R v Chrysostomou [2010] – [2010] Crim L.R. 942 – whether text messages fall within statutory definition of hearsay; conviction quashed due to unfairness of allowing such evidence to be adduced as bad character where the purpose was purely to blacken the defendant’s name.
- R v Magro; R v Brissett; R v Smith; R v Varma [2010] – [2010] Crim L.R. 787; The Times, 26/8/10; [2010] 2 Cr.App.R. 25 – extent to which a five-judge court can overrule a decision of a three-judge court in the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division); whether the Crown Court is empowered to combine a confiscation order with a conditional discharge. Point of general public importance certified; application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court granted.
- R v Lancaster [2010] – [2010] 2 Cr.App.R. 7; [2010] 1 W.L.R. 2558; [2010] Crim L.R. 776; The Times, 2/6/10 – definition of “omits a material particular” under sections 17(1) and (2) of the Theft Act 1968.
- Burwell v DPP [2009] – [2009] Crim L.R. 897; (2009) 173 J.P. 351 – a prosecutor’s certificate under the Computer Misuse Act 1990, section 11(4), is normally determinative of jurisdiction.
- R v Ellis [2009] – [2009] 2 Cr.App.R.(S) 73 – reduction in sentence for offence of aggravated burglary.
- R v Freeman; R v Crawford [2009] – [2009] 1 Cr.App.R. 11; [2009] 1 W.L.R. 2723; [2009] Crim L.R. 103 – judgment clarifying legal principles in relation to cross-admissibility of counts in an indictment under bad character provisions.
Other notable Court of Appeal cases
- R v Glidewell [1999] – [1999] 163 J.P. 557; The Times, 14/5/99 – forgetfulness as a reasonable excuse for possession of an offensive weapon.
- R v Kartal & Ors [1999] – [1999] 10 Archbold News 2; 31 Criminal Law Week 1, 16/8/99 – excessive judicial intervention infringing the defendant’s right to a fair trial.
- R v Denton [2001] – [2001] 1 Cr.App.R. 16; [2001] Crim L.R. 225; The Times, 22/11/00 – reading of statements under section 23 Criminal Justice Act 1988; failure to give reasons in ruling.
- R v Lee Oosthuizen [2006] – [2006] 1 Cr.App.R. 73 – circumstances in which a judge may withhold discount for an early guilty plea or impose a deterrent sentence in light of Sentencing Guidelines Council guidance.
- R v Ashton, Draz, O’Reilly [2006] – [2006] 2 Cr.App.R. 15; The Times, 18/4/06, CA – impact of procedural or jurisdictional failures in the Crown Court on the safety of convictions.
- R v Jean-Paul Holman [2007] – [2007] 1 Cr.App.R.(S) 52 – reduction in sentence for offence of false imprisonment in domestic circumstances.
- R v David Curtis [2007] – [2007] 2 Cr.App.R.(S) 52 – applicability of guideline case in burglary with significant aggravating features committed by an offender with a poor record.
- R v Jales and Lawrence [2007] – [2007] Crim L.R. 800 – findings of contempt of court quashed due to substantial failures of legal procedure.
- R v Noble [2008] – The Times, 21/7/08, CA – failure to answer a summons cannot be an offence under the Bail Act 1976 nor a common law contempt.
Qualifications
BA Classics (First Class) – Bristol University
Professional Associations
Criminal Bar Association
Fraud Lawyers Association
South Eastern Circuit
Inner Temple
