Andrew Langdon KC > Chambers of Anna Vigars KC > Bristol, England > Barrister Profile
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Andrew Langdon KC
Work Department
Crime; health and safety; environment.
Position
Andrew is a criminal silk who regularly appears in cases of homicide, complex fraud and regulatory crime. He has appeared in some of the most notable cases on the Western Circuit including the Bristol trial concerning the murder of Becky Watts.
Ranked as a ‘Star Silk’ in the Chambers & Partners Guide he is reported by them as having “…all the gravitas, demeanour and intellect that one would hope for in a QC. There is no case that he could not handle. He is passionate, persuasive, forensic and delivers in a way that most barristers can only dream of emulating.”
The Legal 500 reports: ‘An absolutely first-class criminal silk. He has it all. Extraordinarily bright, respected by the judiciary and a master at unearthing arguments or points that change cases. He is also great with clients and solicitors love him.’
A passionate believer in trial by jury, Andrew regards appearing as a barrister in the criminal courts of England and Wales ‘an immense privilege that brings with it a heavy responsibility. The only recipe is hard work.’
Career
Qualified Middle Temple 1986; QC 2006; recorder 2003 to date.
Over the years, Andrew has won a reputation for his ability to handle heavy and complex cases. He is presently instructed in the most serious cases on the Western Circuit. For both defence and prosecution, he leads in mainstream serious crime, involving murder, drugs and fraud; but aspects of his career are outside the mainstream. He has prosecuted and defended corporate and gross cases in recent years.
Andrew was on sabbatical as Chairman of the Bar in 2017. He returned to practice in 2018 and since then his cases have included (with the most recent first)
SIGNIFICANT CASES
• R v Young & Others 2021– (Swansea) Andrew led the team which prosecuted twelve defendants (seven at trial) in relation to a fatality on a demolition site in Cardiff. This was a complex case concerning individual corporate defendants facing a range of offences.
• R v Clarke 2021 – (Bristol and Court of Appeal) the defence of a man charged with the murder of his baby which featured multiple medical experts.
• R v E, 2021 – (Bristol) The defence of a 16 year old, who with four adult co-defendants was charged with joint murder at a silent disco.
• R v Hannis & Others 2021 – (Winchester) In a three-month trial, Andrew led the prosecution for murder of members of a drug dealing gang, in a shotgun-assassination.
• R v Mays 2020 – (Winchester and Court of Appeal) The defence of a man charged with the murder of a child and the subsequent destruction of the body.
• R v Gordon 2020 – (Bristol) The defence of a woman who had murdered an associate and then sought to dispose of the body in the Forest of Dean.
• R v Dawood 2020 – (Gloucester) The prosecution of a man who stabbed another to death in a public place.
Memberships
- CBA
- Western Circuit
Education
- LLB, University of Bristol
Lawyer Rankings
Regional Bar > Western Circuit > Business and regulatory crime (including health and safety)
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 1Andrew Langdon KC – Guildhall Chambers ‘Andrew has the ability to cut to the core issues with incision, providing practical and pragmatic advice from the outset backed up by brilliant advocacy and courtroom presence.’
Guildhall Chambers‘s regulatory crime team possesses considerable ‘depth of character and breadth of skills‘ as well as extensive experience in relation to fatal and non-fatal matters, including corporate manslaughter, gross negligence manslaughter, and breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act. Andrew Langdon KC, who leads the team with a ‘calm and directed approach‘, is regularly instructed in high-profile health and safety cases and recently led Sam Jones (‘perhaps unrivalled as a junior on the Western Circuit’) and Alistair Haggarty, ‘superb in complex, document-heavy cases’, in R v Gulley and Others, prosecuting multiple individuals and companies for offenses including gross negligence manslaughter, following a fatal accident in Cardiff when the wall of a church collapsed upon a scaffolder.
Regional Bar > Western Circuit > Crime (general and fraud)
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 1Andrew Langdon KC – Guildhall Chambers ‘Andrew is one of the most senior and impressive criminal silks in the country with a huge presence and authority in court. He has a charming style with witnesses which often wins blood out of the stoniest of them. He is outstanding and brilliant.’
Guildhall Chambers ‘has an unrivalled team of excellent criminal barristers‘. Richard Smith KC, ‘a formidable trial advocate‘, is well-known for handling murder cases and recently prosecuted a man who was convicted of murdering his ex-partner in the 1990s by setting her on fire; she died of her injuries more than two decades later, after the defendant had already served fifteen years of a life sentence for GBH. With a ‘beautiful advocacy style‘ Andrew Langdon KC regularly defends and prosecutes in homicide and gang-related cases, among others. Christopher Quinlan KC, ‘with impeccable judgement and a formidable grasp of the law‘ and Anna Vigars KC, whose ‘courtroom work is carried out with great skill and precision‘, also both have broad experience in serious crimes cases, as well as in cases with several complicating factors, both evidential and medical. Ray Tully KC ‘understands every nuance of a case‘ and recently acted for the defence in the case of a man who killed a stranger with a claw-hammer at a bus stop in Plymouth. Chloe Griggs, ‘a star in the making‘, was recently involved in a murder trial involving a defence of diminished responsibility founded on evidence of long-term coercive control and domestic abuse.