Civil Liberties

Solicitor and Group Actions Manager

Leanne is a solicitor with more than 20 years’ experience, having worked in law since 1998, joining Hudgells in 2010.

As Manager of Actions Against Police (AAP), Inquests and Group Actions in our Civil Liberties Department, Leanne oversees some of the most complex legal cases within the business.

This has included preparing compensation claims for malicious prosecution on behalf of clients in relation to the Post Office Horizon Scandal. Our clients are a large group of former sub-postmasters who were wrongly prosecuted for crimes they didn’t commit due to a faulty accounts system used by the Post Office.

Leanne has also led on cases involving police assault, unlawful arrest and breaches of a person’s human rights.

She also has experience of representing families at inquests, in cases where loved ones have died whilst under the care of the state, or it cases where there are questions as to whether the state either failed to protect, or in some cases were responsible for lives being lost.

Before joining the Civil Liberties team Leanne previously led on a broad range of serious injury and high-value cases including brain injuries, spinal injuries and amputation cases. Leanne has also supported families whose loves one has been involved in fatal accidents.

Career Highlights

I worked alongside Neil Hudgell in representing the family of Lewis Skelton who was shot dead by an officer from Humberside Police in Hull in November 2016. An Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation found officers had no case to answer for misconduct, however, following our representation of the family at inquest, a jury concluded Mr Skelton had been unlawfully killed.

The Humberside Police officer then challenged the coroner’s conduct of the hearing, leading to a Judicial Review hearing in October 2022, at which I and instructed counsel again represented the family, having made strong submissions against the officer’s case. Judges upheld the jury’s important conclusion from the original inquest.

I have also been involved in acting for the family of a young woman who was murdered by her partner. She had reported to the Police on numerous occasions that she was the victim of domestic violence, and no steps were taken by the police to protect her.

In another case I supported the victim of a historic sexual assault by a Police Inspector. This assault was reported at the time, but no investigation or action was taken in relation to this report. Many years later it was discovered that there were many more victims, and that the officer had been using his position of trust to exploit women.

I continue to represent former sub-postmasters across England and Wales who were victims of the Post Office Horizon Scandal. The case has been labelled ‘one of the biggest ever miscarriages of justice in the UK’ as the Post Office has admitted that it prosecuted hundreds of sub postmasters for crimes such as theft and false accounting, using unsafe figures from the faulty Horizon accounting software.

Our legal time is pursuing compensation for malicious prosecution on behalf of all clients who have had convictions overturned. Interim damages of £100,000 have been secured in the majority of cases.

The claims will include damages to recover money sub postmasters were forced to ‘pay back’ to the Post Office, the subsequent loss of earnings and investments, re-finance costs and other direct losses such as the psychological impact of the stigma and trauma caused over many years.

Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) Accredited Litigator