Mr David Toal > Exchange Chambers > Manchester, England > Barrister Profile
Exchange Chambers Offices
201 DEANSGATE
MANCHESTER
M3 3NW
England
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Mr David Toal
Work Department
Criminal; Regulatory
Position
David is a barrister of over 30 years’ experience who provides expert advice and robust advocacy in cases of the utmost complexity and gravity. He has a consistently high rate of success on trials in the Crown Court as well as in other contested hearings so is therefore not surprisingly in great demand.
He has defended individuals (including notorious gang members) charged with murder and serious firearms/drugs offences in some of the most high-profile trials for many years. He has recently represented one of the principal defendants charged with importing massive amounts of drugs from mainland Europe in what is widely recognised to be the UK’s largest ever drug conspiracy.
He is also often asked to defend private/professional clients charged with criminal offences. He represented the Manchester United footballer Mason Greenwood who was charged following serious allegations made by a female. That case eventually concluded with all charges being dropped. He also represented the individual charged with the blackmail of Coleen Rooney relating to a stolen phone containing very personal photographs of the Rooney family.
In addition, he has defended numerous professionals facing criminal allegations and/or breaches of regulations relating to their profession, organisation or business including directors of companies, police officers, military personnel, healthcare professionals, teachers, sportsmen/women etc.
He is ranked in both The Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners directories. Just one of the very many recommendations he has received over the years states the following:- “a fantastic advocate – he’s really excellent, always very well prepared and brilliant in a courtroom” (Chambers & Partners).
Career
Called 1990
Memberships
- Northern Circuit
- Criminal Bar Association
- Gray’s Inn
Education
- St Bede’s College, Manchester and Urmston Grammar School for Boys
- LLB (Hons) Degree
- Bar Vocational Course, Inns of Court School of Law 1989
Leisure
- Interested in all sports but particularly football
Lawyer Rankings
Regional Bar > Northern Circuit > Crime (general and fraud)
(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 1David Toal – Exchange Chambers ‘David is a phenomenal barrister and an excellent and articulate advocate. He is well respected by all on the circuit, he is able to absorb a great deal of information in complex cases at short notice, and he is incredible with clients and able to put defendants at ease regardless of the case before them.’
Exchange Chambers is praised as ‘the go-to set for serious criminal work‘, with members called upon to defend and prosecute at all levels of court across the North West of England. The set has a strong bench of silks, including Ben Myers KC, whose practice encompasses the entirety of criminal law, from murder, manslaughter, rape, and sexual offences, to high-value fraud, money laundering, and drug trafficking – of recent note, he represented Lucy Letby, the former neonatal nurse convicted of the murder of seven infants and the attempted murder of six more after a ten-month trial. David Temkin KC is another notable criminal law silk handling both defence and prosecution work, while Imran Shafi KC exclusively defends in a range of criminal trials, including murders, complex fraud, and drug conspiracies. Head of the set’s criminal group Richard Littler KC has significant expertise in terrorism cases, and he also represented a fifteen-year-old autistic, mute boy, one of two defendants convicted of the murder of transgender teenager Brianna Ghey in Liverpool. Mark Rhind KC is another active silk who frequently handles multi-handed murder cases, as well as pension and timeshare frauds. Among the juniors, Damian Nolan predominately acts for the defence and his expertise spans across terrorism cases and international drug conspiracies, while Ian Whitehurst is notable for his expertise in cyber-related criminal activity. David Toal has expertise in prosecuting serious sexual offences, and he also prosecuted American boxing trainer Brian McIntyre for possession of a firearm – illegal in the UK but licensed in the US – that was found in his suitcase at Manchester Airport. Michael Lavery is another notable name, and he mostly handles defence work in fraud cases.