Garden Court Chambers has a strong group of criminal barristers, with considerable experience at both silk and junior level. Icah Peart KC’s heavyweight defence practice sees him regularly appear in murder trials at the Old Bailey – he recently defended Junior Kettle, one of the individuals charged with the kidnap, torture, and murder of well-known Turkish DJ Koray Alpergin, abducted in Tottenham alongside his girlfriend over money he owed. Henry Blaxland KC and Daniel Jameson were also defending in that case. Bernard Tetlow KC is noted particularly for his experience in multi-defendant homicide trials – he recently defended a security guard at a party who was part of a watch robbery ring, which stabbed to death a man to rob him of a Patek Phillipe watch, which turned out to be fake, a party in the City of London in May 2022 - this defendant was ultimately found guilty of manslaughter and robbery and sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • 'Colin Cook is fantastic. He is an old fashioned clerk who you can trust the opinion of and will always try to help you.'
  • 'The clerks' room is always on hand to assist us with listing issues that arise, and to advise us as to suitable counsel for a specific case.'
  • 'The clerking team at Garden Court is excellent. They are friendly, easy to reach, able to provide suitable suggestions for counsel for a case and always avoid changing counsel when they can. They are proactive and able to assist with the changing landscape of the criminal justice system.'
  • 'Garden Court Chambers is an excellent set with a number of leading silks specialising in various areas of law. They attract the best and those that will fight for the client no matter what. This is coupled with each barristers' legal and technical expertise in their respective fields. Garden Court have an array of training programmes which are offered free of charge to solicitors and this has always been excellent. They also host excellent social events.'
  • 'Chambers clearly has great strength in depth in criminal defence and the clerks are very helpful. They also run regular seminars that are generally of a high standard.'
  • 'Garden Court offers a variety of experienced KCs and junior barristers. The set offers many training opportunities and information seminars throughout the year.'
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Silks

Leading Silks
KCs at the very top of their field, with a long-established record of market-defining cases, and widespread endorsement from clients and peers. All silks appointed in the last two rounds are listed further below.
2
Bernard Tetlow KC
Garden Court Chambers
'Bernard is a huge presence in court and a true jury advocate. He is excellent with clients and a constant source of support to his instructing solicitors. Bernard is at the top of his game.'
4
Michael Ivers KC
Garden Court Chambers
4
Anya Lewis KC
Garden Court Chambers
'Anya is extremely conscientious and hard-working. She considers all of the material and has a great understanding of the issues in the case at a very early stage and is then very responsive throughout the life of case. She is extremely affable and is good with clients.'

Juniors

Leading Juniors
Leading juniors are those with significant experience of key cases, strong market recognition from both peers and clients, and are seen as future candidates for silk.
3
Gerwyn Wise
Garden Court Chambers
'Gerwyn's meticulous case preparation is absolutely unrivalled; he devotes enormous amounts of time to forensically analysing all prosecution evidence, and prepares lengthy schedules of evidence to assist solicitors. He has a deep understanding of the intricacies of legislation and case law, particularly in areas such as modern slavery, gang evidence and county lines operations.'