Red Lion Chambers

General

Alex Benn specialises in criminal defence. Alex appears for those accused of serious crimes, having represented defendants tried for causing death by dangerous driving, rape, causing grievous bodily harm with intent to do so, fraud and armed robbery. Alex is currently being led by King’s Counsel in a number of criminal and civil matters.

Alex first appeared as leading counsel at four years’ call and continues to appear in high-profile matters. Recent cases in the press include: the 90-year-old defendant discharged without conditions after inadvertently killing an 85-year-old; the social media figure whose charges were discontinued after she protested against a well-known actress during film production; and the defendant fined £100 for throwing an object at Charles III.

In addition to jury trials, Alex’s practice involves appellate and judicial review proceedings, usually as sole counsel. Alex represented the claimant in the first and only successful judicial review claim concerning bail appeals (R (Molina) v Snaresbrook Crown Court [2024] 4 WLR 40) and succeeded against Senior Treasury Counsel and junior in an appeal about the legal elements of child cruelty (R v BCZ [2025] EWCA Crim 165). Alex has also appeared in a number of cases addressing important criminal law issues, such as the correct mens rea for attempted rape and accessory liability (R v Pop [2026] WLR(D) 353), abuse of process and the prosecution’s acceptance of inconsistent bases of pleas (R v Jones [2026] WLR(D) 311) and the Metropolitan Police’s policy on automatic deletion of WhatsApp messages during criminal investigations (R (BB) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis [2026] EWHC 1986 (Admin)).

Academic and Advisory Work

Alongside practice, Alex is an academic at the University of Oxford, specialising in criminal and discrimination law. Alex’s research has been cited by the UK Parliament, the Law Commission and academic journals. Alex graduated top of the year at Oxford, winning various university-wide examination prizes, and teaches at University College, St Catherine’s College and the Oxford Law Faculty.

Alex is therefore often asked to advise in cases that raise difficult points of law or where the criminal law meets other areas of the law. In recent years, Alex has advised individuals, trade unions and other organisations about issues surrounding the criminal law.

Alex usually uses they/them pronouns and, when necessary, the pre-fix, ‘Mx’.

Year of Call: 2021

Wronker Prize (for best overall performance in law), University of Oxford

Gibbs Prize (for best combined performance in contract, land, tort and trusts law), University of Oxford

Slaughter and May Prize in Criminal Law, University of Oxford

Red Lion Chambers Prize in Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Oxford

Planethood Foundation Prize in International Criminal Law, University of Oxford

Law Faculty Prize in Comparative Equality Law, University of Oxford

Wronker Prize in Tort Law, University of Oxford

Wronker Prize in Jurisprudence, University of Oxford

David Blank Scholarship, St Catherine’s College, Oxford

Graduate Scholarship, University College, Oxford

Lord Denning Scholarship, Lincoln’s Inn

Publications

Book Chapters and Journal Articles

• ‘Besting Monarchy: The Anti-Classism Argument’, 2023, The Political Quarterly
  
• ‘The Loss or Destruction of Evidence’ in D Young, Young, Corker and Summers on Abuse of Process in Criminal Proceedings, 2022, 5th edn, pp 80-118, with D Young
• ‘Classism as Hate Crime: Proposing Class as a Protected Ground in Criminal Law’, 2021, 10 Criminal Law Review 809
• ‘The Big Gap in Discrimination Law: Class and the Equality Act 2010’, 2020, 3(1) Oxford Human Rights Hub Journal 30

Journal Case Notes and Comments

• ‘Causing a Public Nuisance: R v Smith’, 2025, 1 Criminal Law Review 45
• ‘Electronic Messaging: Cobban v DPP’, 2024, 12 Criminal Law Review 858
• ‘Henry VIII Power: R (Liberty) v Home Secretary’, 2024, 9 Criminal Law Review 653
• ‘Manslaughter (Diminished Responsibility): R v Calocane’, 2024, 9 Criminal Law Review 667
• ‘Loss of Control: R v Drake’, 2024, 4 Criminal Law Review 265
• ‘Misconduct in Public Office: R v Ali’, 2024, 4 Criminal Law Review 269
• ‘Malicious Communications: Freedom of Email? Elected Officials, Disability and Expression’, 2024, Journal of Criminal Law
• ‘Attorney General’s Reference on a Point of Law (No. 1 of 2022)’, 2023, 1 Criminal Law Review 58
• ‘The “Colston Four”, Proportionality and the Concerns that Linger’, 2023, 87(1) Journal of Criminal Law 61
• ‘R (Ngole) v Sheffield University’ 2018, 7(2) Oxford Journal of Law and Religion 351
• ‘R (A and B) v Secretary of State for Health’ 2017, 6(3) Oxford Journal of Law and Religion 631
• ‘Re JS (A Child)’ 2017, 6(2) Oxford Journal of Law and Religion 413

Academic and Legal Websites

• ‘In Crisis: the “Constitutional” Right to Jury Trial’, 2025, UK Constitutional Law Association
• ‘“Biological Sex” in the UK Supreme Court: Four Problems with For Women Scotland v Scottish Ministers’, 2025, Oxford Human Rights Hub
• ‘Universities Should Stop Calling the Police on Peaceful Student Protestors’, 2024, The Political Quarterly Blog, with D Lock
• ‘The International Court of Justice’s Order in South Africa v Israel’, 2024, Oxford Human Rights Hub
• ‘Anti-Classism Offers a New Way to Show Why Monarchy Is Wrong’, 2023, The Political Quarterly Blog
• ‘Criminalising Constitutional Debate? Anti-Monarchy Protests, Treason and Public Order’, 2023, UK Constitutional Law Association
• ‘The Coronation, the Public Order Act 2023 and “Free Speech” ‘, 2023, Oxford Human Rights Hub
• ‘The “Colston Four” and the Walls of Criminal Trials’, 2022, Oxford Human Rights Hub
• ‘Discrimination in Criminal Justice: Four Analytical Steps for Lawyers’, 2021, Legal Lifelines
• ‘Classism, Hate Crime and the Law Commission’s Consultation Paper 250: Lessons from Discrimination Law’, 2021, Oxford Human Rights Hub
• ‘The Maya Forstater Case and So-Called “Gender Critical” Feminism: What Was Actually Decided and What Does It Reveal about UK Discrimination Law?’, 2020, Oxford Human Rights Hub, with C Devlin
• ‘The UK Supreme Court and the Gay Marriage Cake: Is “Indissociability” Half-Baked?’, 2019, Oxford Human Rights Hub

Newspapers and Other Press

• ‘Analysing Class at the Bar’, 2024, Counsel 34
• ‘Is It Time for a Law to Ban Classism?’ (also published as ‘We Prosecute Racists and Sexists. So What about Classists?’), 2023, The Independent
• ‘Gender Non-Conformity at the Bar’, 2022, Counsel 15
• ‘“Virginity Testing”, Hymen Surgery and Misogyny: What Should the Law Do?’, 2021, Counsel 38, with R Karmy-Jones QC
• ‘We Don’t Think John Finnis Should Teach at Oxford University. Here’s Why’, 2019, The Guardian, with D Taylor

CBA

Lincoln’s Inn

Grade 2 Advocate Panel (Crown Prosecution Service)

Law (Jurisprudence, BA), St Catherine’s College, Oxford: first-class honours

Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL), University College, Oxford: distinction