36 Crime
Sebastian prosecutes and defends in the Crown Court, Youth Court and Magistrates’ Court. His practice includes work in crime, trading standards, prison law and actions against the police.
Sebastian is the author of a number of practitioner texts, including the co-author of the sentencing chapter in Archbold, and his academic work has previously been cited and endorsed by the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) (see, for example, R. v Channer [2021] EWCA Crim 696). He has particular experience advising on complex questions of law, and human rights issues. He has acted and advised in relation to a large number of protest prosecutions and has experience with cases concerning modern slavery and terrorism. He has experience appearing in confiscation proceedings and is happy to take instructions in relation to asset forfeiture and related proceedings.
Prior to coming to the bar he worked for four years at the Law Commission and the Attorney General's Office. At the Law Commission, Sebastian was the lead lawyer on what is now the Sentencing Act 2020, instructing Parliamentary Counsel on the drafting of the Bill and giving evidence to the Joint Committee during the Act's passage through Parliament. At the Attorney General's Office he worked on a range of topics including unduly lenient sentences, contempt of court, applications for consent to prosecute (including consents for explosive substances, year and a day prosecutions, international conspiracies and Armed Forces Act offences) and applications for second inquests. Notably he lead on an application to amend the Thompson and Venables injunction and worked closely with the Civil Procedure Rules Committee on the redrafting of Part 81 of the Civil Procedure Rules.
During this time Sebastian also taught criminal law at the London School of Economics. He continues to teach law at the University of Cambridge.
Call: 2019.
Areas of experience:
Serious & Complex Crime Financial Crime
Publications:
Sebastian co-authors Sentencing Principles, Procedure and Practice and is an editor of Current Sentencing Practice and the Criminal Appeal Reports (Sentencing). He is also a contributing editor to Archbold and Miller on Contempt.
He sits on the editorial board of Criminal Law Week for whom he regularly writes comments on new cases and legislation and is on the contributor panel for Lloyd’s Law Reports: Financial Crime. He has also authored articles for a number of academic journals, including the Criminal Law Review, Law Quarterly Review, Public Law, and Archbold Review.
Memberships:
Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge Gray's Inn Grade 2 CPS Prosecutor
Awards and scholarships:
Best Graduating Masters Student in the School of Law 2014-15, University of Nottingham (2015) Prince of Wales Scholar, Gray's Inn (2017-2019) British Academy of Forensic Sciences Prize for best performance in Advanced Criminal Litigation on the BPTC, The City Law School (2019) Ann Goddard Scholar, Gray's Inn (2021)
BA (Hons) Law, 2:1 (University of Nottingham) LLM in Criminal Justice, Distinction (University of Nottingham) Bar Professional Training Course, Outstanding (The City Law School)