Lesley is a Grade 4 prosecutor and rape specialist who prosecutes and defends in all types of criminal cases, with an emphasis on serious and organized crime, sexual offences and fraud and financial crime. She frequently advises the Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Unit on charging decisions. She appears before a number of disciplinary tribunals, including the General Dental Council and the General Chiropractic Council.
Before coming to the Bar, Lesley trained as a nurse and worked for nearly 10 years at 2 large teaching hospitals in London. This experience has proved invaluable in her chosen fields of criminal and regulatory/disciplinary law. She brings to her cases a wealth of experience dealing with experts and young and vulnerable witnesses and defendants. She is equally adept at handling the tough, technical evidence of experts, and complex financial crime.
Lesley was instrumental in the CBA-led production of a short film (‘A Question of Practice’) on the questioning of vulnerable and young witnesses and defendants launched in April 2013. She speaks at CBA Conferences on questioning young and vulnerable witnesses and defendants and pre-recorded cross-examination. Lesley is a member of the Advocacy Training Council Vulnerable Witness Training group, working closely with the NSPCC and other professionals leading the way in developing training materials in accordance with the recent recommendations by the Advocacy Training Council report “Raising the Bar: Handling Vulnerable Witnesses, Victims and Defendants in court”.
She has spoken spoken on Radio 4 and Radio 5 Live on issues such as anonymity for suspects accused of rape and historical sexual abuse allegations.
She is an Inner Temple advocacy trainer.
Called 1999; Inner Temple.
Criminal Bar Association (elected committee member); Bar Council (elected committee member); Association of Regulatory and Disciplinary Lawyers.
Kingston University (LLB (Hons)).