St John's Buildings

Family - Children, Family - Finance, Court of Protection, Inquests

Simon practises in all areas of child and adult protection/safeguarding including care proceedings, Court of Protection cases, Wardship, Inquests and Judicial Review (relating to the Children Act 1989 and allied legislation and regulations).

In relation to child protection work, as well as dealing with the familiar staple mix of cases, the more complex cases he readily and regularly undertakes involve issues such as international child trafficking and terrorism and inter gang rivalry. He has recently undertaken work linked to high profile arrests in sexual abuse cases. These are of particular interest to him given his historic involvement in Operation Cleopatra (i.e. the Greater Manchester investigation into the historic sexual abuse of children in care homes in the region) and in which he acted as Counsel for the Greater Manchester local authorities.

He has been involved in a number of complex and high profile public Inquiries and Inquests including:

• The Everall Inquiry – A Public Inquiry into the murder of two young people whilst in care
• The Patterson Inquiry – An Inquiry into the death of a child by her mentally ill mother
• The Inquest into the Death of Sabina Akhtar – Inquest into the unlawful killing of a mother by her partner amidst on-going multi-agency involvement
• The Trafford House Fires Inquest – Inquest into the unlawful killing of a mother and some of her children after a deliberate arson attack on her home by a former partner amidst multi-agency involvement.

As well as a series of lesser publicised inquests (involving issues such as the corporate manslaughter, children/young person either in or linked to the care system who have died of unascertainable causes or in avoidable accidents).

Simon regularly advises and represents local authorities in judicial review cases involving the interpretation of the Children Act 1989 and the allied legislation and guidance issued thereunder. He has a particular interest in those relating to allowances paid to different classes of carers and is instructed in a string of cases brought to determine the extent of a local authority’s obligations under section 17 to those who no longer qualify for mainstream benefits. Through such work, he receives instructions to draft policies for local authorities which accord with the applicable Law.

He also has a growing interest in Court of Protection work and is still no stranger to complex and high net worth financial settlement cases and private law children’s cases of complexity and/or with an international dimension.

Called 1988; Lincoln’s Inn.

Family Law Bar Association (FLBA).

Bacup & Rawtenstall Grammar School; Leeds University (1987 LLB Hons).