Colin Hutchinson

Practice

Employment law: Colin specialises in all aspects of employment law involving both individual and collective rights. He has particular expertise in race and sex discrimination cases. Colin appeared for applicants in a number of cases in the employment tribunal where six figure sums were obtained as compensation, examples being Denning v Civil Aviation Authority (transgender discrimination) and Sinclair v The Metropolitan Police (sex discrimination).

Inquests: The representation of bereaved families in inquests is a major area of Colin's work. Colin has acted in many high profile cases including Peter Berwick (a death at work where the jury returned an unlawful killing verdict on the basis of corporate manslaughter) and Darren Franey (an unlawful killing on the basis of gross negligence manslaughter involving the actions of the police in attempting to halt a stolen car). Gareth Price (a child death in custody involving multi agency failure. It also became the longest ever prison death Inquest). Phillip Prout (shot by the police following a siege at his home). Martin Green (died of dehydration whilst in prison due to medical failings). Sam Elphic and Liam MacManus (both child custody death cases where the jury made findings of failures in respect of most of the agencies involved).Colin has also appeared in many cases in the High Court involving Inquests and Coronial Law.

Civil and Human Rights: Actions against the Police and Prison Service also form a large part of Colin's practice. He also regularly acts for prisoners in cases before the Parole Board or concerning Parole Board decisions.

Background

Colin was a trade union officer in the North East before coming to the Bar. He was involved in representing members' interests in a wide variety of individual and collective disputes, as well as negotiating pay and conditions at a regional and national level.

Notable Cases

Colin's reported cases include:

Brown and Others v HM Coroner for Neath and Port Talbot [2006] EWHC Admin 2019 (unlawful killing verdicts in Coroners Courts)

Garry v LB Ealing [2001] IRLR 681 (meaning of detriment in race discrimination)

Dawson & Dunn v HM Coroner for East Riding and Kingston upon Hull [2001] EWHC Admin 352 (challenge to inquest verdict involving questions of bias)

Mortimer & others v The Labour Party [2000] The Independent, 28 February 2000 (challenge to the disaffiliation of the London region of the MSF)

Wallace v CA Roofing [1996] IRLR 435 (wrongful termination of apprenticeship contract)

R v Lincolnshire CC ex p Atkinson; R v Wealden DC ex p Wales [1996] JPN 580 (removal of unauthorised campsites)

R v Coventry JJ ex parte Bullard [1992] 95 Cr App R (admissibility of computer generated evidence)

Societies

Colin is a member of the Employment Law Bar Association, Personal Injury Bar Association and Administrative Law Bar Association.

Year of Call

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