Alan has a burgeoning Crown Court practice. He has built on a solid foundation of experience in the Magistrates Court (particularly specializing in Youth Court work). He has been instructed in a wide range of Crown Court cases including: Drugs supply offences, fraud and money laundering offences, firearms offences, ID Card’s Act offences, Immigration offences, robbery and serious violent and sexual offences.

Alan has significant experience of defending clients with psychiatric issues, personality disorders, learning difficulties and drug and alcohol addictions. He has argued submissions on areas of law as diverse as abuse of process, bad character, the discretionary exclusion of evidence (e.g. verbals and significant and substantial breaches of PACE section 78), fitness to plead, hearsay, special reasons, ASBO’s and Restraining Orders.

Alan came to the bar with the benefit of six years experience as a Police Station Representative advising suspects at all levels of criminal investigation from shoplifting to regular instruction in cases of murder and serious sexual offences. Alan is therefore astutely aware of the current pressures facing instructing Solicitors in a post-Carter environment.

Alan attained a First Class LLB (London South Bank University) and an MSc in Criminal Justice and Criminology (University of Oxford, Lady Margaret Hall). His Masters included a dissertation on the discretionary exclusion of evidence (section 78/abuse of process) supervised by Professor Andrew Ashworth QC. Alan was rated outstanding in Criminal Litigation on his BVC. He was awarded the Sweet and Maxwell Prize and an Exhibition Award by the Inner Temple. Alan has lectured on undergraduate law degree courses subjects including: criminal law, evidence and procedure and contract law. He is also a regular practitioner feedback contributor to Oxford University Press on publications including Blackstone’s Criminal Practice and English Public Law.


Memberships

Inner Temple, Criminal Bar Association, South Eastern Circuit