JON MITCHELL

SUMMARY OF PRACTICE AREAS

Jon has built up an impressive record of handling large and complex cases particularly in the field of Criminal Defence having appeared before many tribunals including the Court of Appeal, High Court as well as Circuit Courts and Tribunals. He has been instructed as an Advocate alone in Attempted Murder and Manslaughter, as well as having been Leading Counsel in cases ranging from gang rapes to multi-million pound drug importations. Over this period he has built up a significant body of notable and reported cases. Jon is a pupil supervisor and has in the past regularly delivered SRA accredited lectures on criminal law for solicitors CPD purposes.

Whilst remaining available for privately and publicly funded Criminal work he is also available for privately funded direct access work where an opinion on conviction is required.

REPORTED CASES

• R (app of C, a child) v DPP 2000 QBD (Administrative Court) 06 October., 165 J.P.102

• R v WESLEY 2004 EWCA Crim 1939, 2004 WL 2289107

CASES OF NOTE

• R v WH AND ORS, St Albans Crown Court 2019 Successfully defended in a 7-week money laundering case. Instructed by Mr Nasir Ali Hussain of Musa Patels LLP of Dewsbury, two of eight defendants were acquitted in a document heavy fraud at St Albans. The prosecution alleged a complex insider banking fraud in which large sums stolen were quickly diverted through multiple layers of businesses across the UK. This defence team put forward a detailed and sophisticated defence involving a large quantity of business and banking records combined with expert forensic accountancy reports.

• R v MOHAMMED ALI AND OTHERS 2014 Advocate alone in multi-defendant mortgage fraud the facts involved an allegation of large scale defrauding of mortgage lenders through a number of methods including forgery of documents and signatures as well as the creation of bogus applicants.

• R v YING 2013 Advocate alone in Confiscation of £1.3M of assets the facts involved the confiscation of the assets of a madame running 12 brothels that came to light after the opening of a Safe Deposit box facility as part of Operation Rize. The confiscation evidence contained nearly 8,000 bank transactions along with several years of deposit box logs.

• R v HERRERA 2010 Advocate alone in Attempted Murder the facts involved multiple stab wounds to the victim in a frenzied random attack on a stranger. The case involved a wide range of medical issues among them wide spectrum autistic disorder and educational assessment.

• R v YOUNAS 2009 Leading Counsel in 8 defendant drug importation conspiracy involving extra-territorial issues and introduction of previous acquittal issues.

• R v KAYANI 2008 Led junior in double homicide notable as the longest homicide case to be heard at the Central Criminal Court involving 13 defendants and lasting a 13 month period from January 2007 to February 2008. The second part of the trial was distinguished by the use of interlocutory appeal by the Crown against a terminating ruling as well as the investigation of witness tampering during the trial process.

• R v STONEHOUSE 2007 Advocate alone in manslaughter notable for entirely technical defence founded upon causation, based on the highly unusual nature of the type of fatal injury.

• R v MAYNARD 2006 Advocate alone - explosives notable for construction, laying and detonation of explosive materials sited in a busy residential area. Originally pursued by the Crown as the construction of anti-personnel devices, a theory dismissed after the deployment of lengthy and detailed opinion gained through the use of an ordnance expert.

• R v MOHAMMED 2006 Advocate alone - rapes notable for the length of ABE interviews running to over 300 pages of transcript necessitating cross-examination of complainant over a 3 day period.

• R v YOUNIS 2006 drug importation notable for the scale of the operation by HM Customs officers (many of whom worked for the newly formed SOCA at the time of trial) as well as NCIS involving, as it did, surveillance on suspects involved in the importation of over £6m of heroin.

• R v PENDRILL 2006 Leading Counsel in violent disorder notable for the scale of the disorder culminating in a s18 attack with weapons including a hammer by 15 defendants involved in several incidents over the course of one night.

• R v ALOBAYDI 2005 Leading Counsel in multiple defendant rape notable for the amount of scientific material generated and the number of expert witnesses appearing for both parties giving evidence over a 4 week period.

• R v PAYNE 2005 Advocate alone sexual offences/children notable for being an historic complaint, 11 specimen counts representing an 11 year period.

• R v GHARU 2003 Advocate alone sexual offences/children notable for child witness issues.

• R v PETERS 2001 Advocate alone rapes/children notable for issues involving the mental health disability of the defendant as a component as well as the usual child witness sensitivities.