Lincoln House Chambers

Business Crime & Financial RegulationCriminal LawInquestsJudicial Review LawProfessional DisciplineRegulatory

An exceptional advocate, Tim is admired for his work in serious, sensitive and complex pieces of litigation. He has the distinction of being ranked for his work in  Financial Crime and  in General Crime.

Tim maintains a balance in his work of instructions from the Prosecution and Defence, across a spectrum of litigation. His principal specialisms are homicide, organised crime, financial & business crime. He also has considerable experience in work with a medico-legal setting or a regulatory context.  In silk, Tim has progressed into the area of appellate work, where his capacity for analysis of complex, systematic problems has attracted praise.

As a prosecutor Tim is sought for his experience in dealing with organised crime groups, conspiracies that arise from covert means of communication, and plots to murder. His particular strength is in the presentation of cases that are made complex by reason of their factual backgrounds.

Tim’s experience for the defence is no less strong. He has a reputation for excellence in gang-related homicide cases, and for his expertise in the cases in which partial human remains have been recovered. He has also attracted private instructions, for distinguished professional men, to defend allegations of sexual misconduct.

In the sphere of financial crime, Tim has acted in cases of organised fraud and in circumstances where corruption was alleged against a background of corporate activity. He has particular expertise in cases of international controller-led money laundering.

Tim’s experience in a variety of cases of manslaughter have revealed his adeptness in the conduct of cases with medical explanations. These pieces of work have frequently, in their analysis of the detail of medical histories, constituted pain-staking inquiries into the issues before the court.

HOMICIDE

R v Jabriel Ferguson & Ors. (Manchester)  For the Defence. acquittal in multi-handed trial in which the  allegation was of a revenge killing.

R v Martin Thomas & Ors. (Manchester) For the Defence. The defendant , a drill artist, was accused of conspiracy to murder in revenge for the loss of a friend. Convicted of lesser offences.

R v Ernest Weber & Ors  (Leeds) For the Defence. Human remains discovered by a reservoir, nearly a decade after the killing.

R v Andrew Burfield (Preston) for the Defence. Deceased found in a makeshift grave in a beauty spot after a national missing persons inquiry had been launched.

R v William Wilkinson (Preston) For the Defence. Defendant dismembered his neighbour and distributed the body parts across various locations.

R v Lee Knox (Liverpool) For the Prosecution. The Joseph McKeever murder: the events occurred against a background of serious, organised criminal activity.

ORGANISED CRIME & FINANCIAL CRIME

Operation Girdwood & Measle: (Manchester) For the Prosecution, for NCA and GMP. Encrochat related conspiracies to murder, trade in automatic weapons and drugs

Operation Guatemala (Manchester) For the Prosecution for NWROCU Encrochat related conspiracy to trade in firearms, international money laundering, and drugs by OCG members

Operation Beehive (Manchester) For the Prosecution, For GMP, filmed in the BAFTA-winning documentary, as “Taking Down an OCG’ this was known as the ‘Skinny Awais’ case.

Operation Tarlac (Leicester) for the Defence. D acquitted of participation in conspiracies to defraud, and associated money-laundering, in multi-million pound deception practised on public authorities

R v Fairbairn (Newcastle) for the Defence. D, a company director, convicted of offences arising out of misconduct and fraudulent dealing with company assets.

R v Mohammed Awais Sajid (Court of Appeal Criminal Division) For the Prosecution, resisting an appeal against conviction on grounds of fresh evidence.

Cases of Medical Complexity

R v Elaine Clarke (Preston) for the Defence. Defendant guilty of manslaughter by neglect of her disabled child, where there was a long history of medical intervention.

R v Elaine Clarke (AG’s Ref) for the Respondent: resistance of application to refer the case to the Court of Appeal Criminal Division on grounds of undue leniency

R v XX.(Bolton) for the Prosecution Newborn child died from injuries consistent with episode of baby-shaking.

R v Simmonds (Preston) for the Defence. Unlawful act manslaughter complicated by apparent incidences of less-than-optimal medical treatment.

R v Joe Walker (CACD) for the Appellant. Findings of High Retained Culpability, and Hybrid Order for s.45A, with discretionary life imprisonment overturned after serial deficiencies in approach of the sentencing court, in relation to psychiatric evidence. Findings of Wednesbury Unreasonableness by the Court.  Guidance given as to the approach for sentencing offenders who had admitted manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.

Called 1993; Middle Temple; lectured other legal professional bodies as part of CPD schemes; editor: ‘Cassell’s English Grammar’ (London 1991).

Criminal Bar Association Association of Regulatory and Disciplinary Lawyers. Administrative Law Bar Association Northern Circuit Middle Temple

Loreto College, Manchester; Mansfield College, Oxford (1989); Staffordshire University (1993 CPE Postgraduate Diploma Law) Jameson Scholar, Middle Temple (1993).

Fell walking, film, food, reading, proprietor The Portico Library, Manchester, associated with the Brain and Spinal Injury Charity (BASIC), developed interest in traumatic brain injury.