Tobias Smith > 25 Bedford Row > London, England > Barrister Profile

Tobias Smith

020 7067 1500 clerks@25bedfordrow.com View profile View profile View profile

Position

A fearless advocate, Tobias’ has been noted for his sound judgment under pressure, his ability to carefully construct legal arguments, and his deft handling of prosecution disclosure failures.

Since joining chambers following successful completion of his pupillage, Tobias has acted in serious criminal cases, including murder, complex drug conspiracies, kidnapping and blackmail, serious violence, money laundering, fraud, and sexual offences.

Recent notable cases include:

–           R v AC – Murder – Led junior for a defendant in a five-handed murder case. The deceased had been killed during a house party and it was said that all five defendants were involved in disposing the body of the deceased and concealing the death. Each of the defendant’s ran a cutthroat defence.

–           R v GB – Kidnapping and Blackmail – Acted alone for a young man accused of kidnapping a teenage boy at knifepoint and extorting money from the victim’s brother.

–           R v OO – PWITS Class A – Acted alone for a defendant accused of drug supply following the defendant being attacked at knifepoint and consequentially crashing his car. The car was searched and drugs were found.

–           R v RC – s18 wounding with intent – Acted alone for a youth accused of stabbing another young person as part of a group attack.

–           R v OE – Conspiracy to possess firearms with intent to endanger life – Led junior in a complex four-month trial relating to the activities of a large Nottingham drug supply operation.

–           R v MA – Money laundering – Acted alone for a defendant accused of laundering the proceeds of a £30k fraud against an elderly victim.

Tobias has expertise in cases involving the civil jurisdiction of the criminal courts. He has acted for football fans defending charges of public order and violence committed at football matches or resisting applications for football banning orders. He has resisted applications for gang injunctions in the magistrates’ court, and on appeal in the Crown Court. He has experience in applications for Criminal Behaviour Orders, Stalking Protection Orders, and Domestic Violence Protection Orders.

Tobias regularly represents clients in relation to driving matters in the Crown Court. He has acted for clients accused of drink or drug driving, careless driving, failure to stop and a myriad of other offences. He has a track record of success in helping clients who face disqualification as a “totter” keep their drivers’ license through exceptional hardship arguments.

During 2020, Tobias volunteered to act as a legal observer at the Black Lives Matter protests.

Career

Called 2016.

Prior to coming to the Bar, Tobias has worked as a paralegal at two of the UK’s leading criminal law and human rights firms. He gained experience in criminal law, inquests (particularly those relating to the deaths of mental health inpatients and deaths at the hands of the police), civil actions against the police, and judicial reviews of CPS charging decisions.

Education

• MA (Cantab), Social and Political Sciences, Jesus College, University of Cambridge
• MSc Middle East Politics, School of Oriental and African Studies
• GDL (Distinction), BPP University
• BTPC (Outstanding), BPP University