Karen Walton specialises in serious crime and maintains a practice that involves both defending serious criminal matters and prison law work. She is an experienced, heavyweight criminal practitioner with a proven record in dealing with the most serious of offences. She has been instructed in multiple defendant violence and fraud requiring meticulous analysis of complex case papers. She has extensive experience in the sensitive handling of vulnerable defendants/witnesses. Karen is finding that she is increasingly instructed in matters relating to ‘Gangs and Guns’ and is beginning to build a specialism in this area.
Her practice includes serious sexual assaults (recent and historic), serious violence, child cruelty, drugs cases, cases involving victims and defendants with mental health problems and learning disabilities, confiscation proceedings. Her led work has included murder, serious violence, historic sexual abuse by multiple family members, fraud and large scale drug offences.
In 2018, Karen represented a significantly higher number than usual of defendants with mental health problems and comunication or learning difficulties such as austism and aspergers. As a consequence she has extensive experience of instructing intermediaries or expert witnesses to act for the defence. She has also undertaken a significant amount of cases involving complainants who are under 10 and therefore represented defendants under the new protocol to try and achieve trial within 8 weeks of charge.
Karen is one of the most experienced members of a team within Drystone Chambers who specialise in serious sexual offence matters. This team offers seminars on all areas of sexual offences trials, providing short bespoke seminars or larger networking events. Karen is also a qualified vulnerable witness training trainer, Middle Temple.
Called to the Bar 1998
Criminal Bar Association, AWB Trustee to the London Youth Choir.