23ES

Laurence Imrie is instructed in the most serious and complex criminal cases. He has considerable experience defending and prosecuting a broad range of cases including murder, manslaughter, large-scale importation of drugs and firearms, fraud, fatal road traffic and serious sexual offences.  He is regularly instructed in high profile matters and serious criminal conspiracies.

Laurence defends mainly in London and the South East and receives instructions from leading firms of solicitors.

Laurence trained at a busy criminal defence firm before becoming a partner.  He has the inside track on comprehending and challenging the prosecution strategy in complex serious offences, having also been a Senior Crown Prosecutor and Senior Crown Advocate (Grade 4).

His meticulous approach to preparation enables him to thoroughly assimilate vast amounts of material to present the evidence in a simplified and easily understandable form.  He is regularly described as being user friendly.  He undertakes advisory work and regularly advises the CPS on difficult charging decisions.

Laurence is as adept at dealing with the technical evidence of experts as well as dealing with vulnerable witnesses and defendants.  He is a trusted advocate and well respected.

Laurence is frequently instructed in high-profile homicide cases.  In R v Thorpe he represented a defendant charged with murder who had communication and learning difficulties.  In R v Brown he prosecuted a defendant who was charged with murder in which loss of control was argued.  In R v McKenzie he prosecuted a female who was convicted of the murder of her love rival; the case attracted substantial press interest and was the subject of a documentary.  In R v Driver he prosecuted a defendant who was convicted of the manslaughter of a toddler.

In recent years, Laurence has defended and prosecuted complex conspiracy cases concerning organised crime groups.  He recently prosecuted a professional criminal gang who were involved in both high-value offences and cases concerning serious violence (R v Mackay and others).  The sentences were increased after Laurence advised that the sentences should be appealed as unduly lenient.  Laurence recently led in a multi-handed case involving a series of armed robberies with firearms which involved complex disclosure issues (R v Palmer and Bate).

Laurence has vast experience in cases involving every type of serious sexual offending, both prosecuting and defending. He is experienced in drafting complex, multi-count indictments in historic and multi-complainant cases.  He is regularly instructed in cases which concern high-net worth individuals and professionals.