3PB

Crime and Regulatory Crime

Oliver Hirsch is a criminal barrister based at 3PB’s Winchester office. He conducts work for both defence and prosecution.

As defence counsel, Oliver has secured acquittals in cases involving allegations of sexual offences, serious violence, drug supply, and a range of other matters. He has been instructed as junior counsel in cases involving historic child sex offences and county lines drug trafficking. He has appeared in the High Court and the Court of Appeal.

Oliver has been appointed to Level 2 of the CPS General Crime Advocate Panel and the CPS RASSO panel. He is regularly instructed to prosecute serious sexual offences and a broad range of other cases.

Oliver's caseload extends beyond general crime to encompass regulatory matters. This has included the successful defence of an e-bike retailer from prosecution by the DVSA.

Crime and Regulatory Crime

Criminal Prosecution

As a grade 2 prosecutor and member of the RASSO panel, Oliver is regularly briefed to conduct trials on behalf of the CPS. His cases to date have included the following.

R v E: defendant charged with controlling/coercive behaviour after his partner took her own life. The Crown sought to prove its case using hearsay evidence of what she had told others before her death. After successfully resisting a defence application to exclude the hearsay, the prosecution accepted guilty pleas.

R v C&D: two defendants charged with kidnapping a teenage boy from the street and assaulting him repeatedly over the course of several hours. Both defendants convicted.

R v P: defendant convicted of attempted robbery, having attacked a man in the street for his car keys.

R v K: defendant charged with sexual assaults against his teenage stepdaughter.

R v S: defendant charged with serious sexual and domestic offences against two different partners.

R v D: historic sexual offences against a child.

R v N: domestic abuse allegations including assault by penetration, false imprisonment and strangulation.

R v S: sexual offence committed against 9-year-old nephew.

Criminal Defence

Oliver has acted on behalf of many clients in the Crown Court. A few of his cases are itemised below.

R v G: acquittal on a charge of assault by penetration. The defendant was also acquitted of other serious offences involving the same complainant.

R v S: possession of Class A with intent to supply. The defendant had already pleaded guilty to supply of cannabis, but was acquitted after trial of supplying cocaine.

R v E: acted as junior counsel in a multi-week trial of historic child sexual abuse allegations.

R v S: defendant acquitted of sexual assault. The defendant had drunk so much that he was unable to remember the events of the alleged incident, but was acquitted after discrepancies in the prosecution case were highlighted.

R v E: defendant acquitted of controlling or coercive behaviour.

R v A: junior defence counsel in a multi-handed conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

R v M: represented defendant in the Court of Appeal, having his sentence reduced by one third.

R v K: ABH, client acquitted of allegation that he assaulted his neighbour. He had argued self-defence.

R v S: sole defence counsel in trading standards case involving allegation of fraudulent trading.

Proceeds of Crime

R v A: Oliver persuaded the prosecution to settle, after making a novel argument that the defendant’s current account balance was in fact held on trust for his bank. The client paid £16,000 less than the prosecution had been pursuing.

R v C: Oliver negotiated the amount sought by the prosecution down from £15,000 to £3,500.

Regulatory

Oliver acts in all areas of regulatory law. His most recent experience includes taxi licence appeals and a private prosecution under the electric pedal cycle regulations.

Year of Call: 2020

Inner Temple

Western Circuit

Criminal Bar Association

UK Centre for Animal Law

Bar Professional Training Course, V Competent (University of Law)

Graduate Diploma in Law, Distinction (University of Law)

BA History, First (University of Oxford)

Level 2 – CPS Advocate Panel – General Crime

CPS Rasso Panel

Vulnerable witness training, Middle Temple