PracticeDavid is a highly experienced defence trial advocate. His practice covers all aspects of serious crime, particularly murder, terrorism, manslaughter by gross negligence (and Health and Safety legislation), fraud and money laundering. Murder
David has been involved in over 250 cases of murder. Lately they often involve the use of a knife (or knives) or a gun by young defendants, most of whom are under 21. A recent example was R v Tirrel Davis and others, the killing of Kojo Yenga in broad daylight in Hammersmith Grove in 2007. Mr Davis' appeal against conviction for murder was unsuccessful but on 20th August 2009 the minimum term was reduced on appeal to 13 years. Terrorism
David was instructed to defend Wahbi Mohammed, the brother of one of the 21/7 bombers, Ramzi Mohammed, who was alleged to have 'psyched' up the bombing team to commit the offence. His sentence was recently reduced from 17 years imprisonment to 13 by the Court of Appeal. He recently defended Ibrahim Issa, a 20 year old self-convert to Islam, who was alleged to have planned to blow up the Broadmead Shopping Centre in the heart of Bristol and members of the public in it by means of a suicide bomb. He is also instructed to defend Nabeel Hussein in the 'Heathrow bomb plot'.
Manslaughter by Gross Negligence; Health and Safety legislation
David has been instructed in two interesting cases in this developing field of the law. The first alleged the manslaughter of a Naval Lieutenant by a Petty Officer at the Institute of Naval Medicine, Gosport, Hampshire. The case required a mastery of the principles of diving, the military rules, the relevant Health and Safety legislation, and the pathology of death by drowning. The second alleged the manslaughter of a welder who was blown to pieces while mending the inner bulkhead of a petrol tanker. It required a thorough understanding of the inner workings of petrol tankers, how they are 'degassed', principles of welding and the relevant Health and Safety legislation. Both defendants were acquitted.
Fraud
David recently appeared for the first defendant in R V Palmer and others, an MTIC fraud. An advantageous plea bargain was negotiated with the Crown. It resulted in Mr. Palmer receiving a sentence of less than 4 years imprisonment, thereby gaining him the possibility of parole after serving only half of his sentence. Two lesser defendants who fought the case and were convicted received greater sentences. He was recently instructed in an alleged "boiler room" fraud, operating out of Barcelona, Spain. His client was acquitted of the conspiracy to defraud but convicted of money laundering. He is also instructed to represent the one UK defendant in a worldwide internet banking fraud worth £54 million known as "the Darkside", with prosecution witnesses who include Secret Service and FBI agents.
Notable CasesNotable cases in which David has appeared in the past include:
- R v Cynthia Payne ('Madame Sin', the Streatham brothel keeper who was acquitted);
- R v Sidney Cooke (the notorious paedophile involved in the killing of Joan Swift);
- R v Kenneth Erskine (the 'Stockwell Strangler' convicted of seven murders and one attempted murder);
- R v Martin McCall (the Ealing Vicarage rapist);
- R v Brown and others [1994] 1 AC 212 HL (on the limits of consent to sado-masochistic assault);
- R v Learco Chindamo ( the young man accused of murdering the headmaster Philip Lawrence)
- R v Antoine [2001] 1 AC 340 HL (a case which decided that on the trial of an issue under section 4A (2) of the Criminal Procedure (Insanity) Act 1964 as to whether the accused "did the act or made the omission charged as the offence", "the act" for this purpose refers only to the actus reus of the offence and not the mens rea.
- R v Faisal Wangita (the son of Idi Amin, accused of murder, convicted of manslaughter).
BackgroundDavid is one of the few QCs to appear on the Attorney-General's list of Special Counsel instructed to deal with highly sensitive issues of disclosure on behalf of Defendants. He has been a Recorder of the Crown Court since 1994, authorised to sit at the Central Criminal Court, and qualified to try serious sex cases.
Societies
David is a former Leader of the South Eastern Circuit (2007-2008) and Chairman of the Criminal Bar Association (2004-5). He was made a Bencher of the Inner Temple in 2004.
He is the barrister representative on the Ministry of Justice's High Cost Cases Review Board. LanguagesI speak conversational French and have some Italian.
(Last Updated: September 2009)
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