Gareth Patterson KC > Chambers of Simon Denison KC > London, England > Barrister Profile

Gareth Patterson KC

020 3301 0910 gareth.patterson@6kbw.com View profile

Position

Appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2017. Gareth is named by Chambers and Partners as one of their recommended new silks in both Crime and Financial Crime. He has extensive experience of heavy criminal litigation, his cases having included murder, blackmail, fraud, bribery, terrorism and all other types of criminal work. He appears both for the Prosecution and the Defence, often in cases of complexity or sensitivity as noted by the Legal 500. For many years Gareth has been recommended in the fields of Crime and Fraud by both the Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners.

Notable cases include: R v Ali and Others (‘Three Musketeers’ terror plot); R v Asil Nadir (the theft of nearly £29 million from the company Polly Peck); R v A (involving blackmail relating to sensitive photographs of a foreign Head of State); R v Piggin (the trial of the Loughborough teenager charged with Columbine-style terrorist offences); R v Khan and Khan (the planned beheading of a US serviceman in East Anglia), R v Konye (which involved an acid attack in Dagenham); R v Lim (which involved an allegation of theft of diamonds from the former wife of the Sultan of Brunei); R v Hopkins(the body in the attic murder); a series of domestic homicides. Gareth successfully defended one of the brokers charged in the SFO’s LIBOR-rigging prosecution. Gareth has recently been instructed in the case of Olga Freeman relating to the death of her 10 year old son.

Gareth’s practice is not restricted to criminal litigation. He is instructed in advisory work and in cases of judicial review. Gareth has a particular interest in inquests and coronial law and acted for families in the inquests into those killed in the 7/7 London Bombings, the Westminster terror attack and the London Bridge / Borough Market terror attacks. He has been recommended by Legal 500 for his “solid niche in extradition matters”. Before practising at the Bar, he was a commercial solicitor for the City law firm, Gouldens (now Jones Day).

Criminal Litigation

Gareth has wide experience of both prosecuting and defending in relation to homicide and the full range of criminal offences, at first instance and on appeal. He has been instructed by various prosecuting agencies including the Crown Prosecution Service and the Serious Fraud Office. Gareth has advised in an equally wide range of criminal cases.

Gareth has acted for the Attorney General in references of unduly lenient sentences and acted on an appeal for a prisoner convicted of murder after a trial involving the use of anonymous witnesses. Gareth has recently prosecuted and defended in many high profile cases of murder and manslaughter, mainly at the Central Criminal Court.

Gareth also has considerable experience in cases involving allegations of sexual offences and recently successfully argued for the stay of proceedings brought against a defendant facing historical allegations.

Fraud

Gareth is described in the Legal 500 as “an amazingly astute fraud lawyer.” He has been instructed both for the Prosecution (including the SFO) and Defence in many cases of fraud. The LIBOR-rigging trial in which he defended, concluded following acquittals in 2016. In R v Nadir he spent nearly one and a half years preparing the case, followed by a trial lasting some seven months and subsequent compensation proceedings. He appeared in the prosecution of a defendant charged with a multi-million pound film industry fraud; after a three-month trial she was convicted at Bristol Crown Court. In R v Ozakpinar and Others, Gareth was instructed in an allegation of corruption arising out of the employment of consultants by a public body. In R v Alexander and Others he appeared in a lengthy fraud involving the assignment of falsely inflated contracts and conspiracy to bribe.

Gareth led for the Defence in a case against a British diplomat charged with misconduct in a public office arising out of the dishonest grant of visas in the Philippines. He also has experience of appeals in relation to complicated Missing Trader Intra-Community (MTIC) frauds before the First-Tier Tax Tribunal.

Gareth is Instructed by the SFO and by the FCA in relation to major ongoing investigations into multi-jurisdictional offences.

He is recommended in both Legal 500 (Fraud: Crime) and Chambers and Partners (new silks: Financial Crime).

Inquests & Inquiries

Gareth has acted for families in the inquests into those killed in the 7/7 London Bombings, the Westminster terror attack and the London Bridge / Borough Market terror attacks. In the High Court in R (on the application of O’Connor) v HM Coroner for Avon [2009] EWHC 854 (Admin) he obtained a fresh inquest in relation to the death of six year-old Liam Hogan, who was pushed from a balcony in Crete by his father.

Regulatory

Gareth has been instructed in regulatory cases involving prosecutions brought by a range of government agencies. He has acted for HMRC in relation to appeals in respect of MTIC fraud.

Career

• Called 1995
• Queen’s Counsel 2017.
• Court-appointed counsel to cross-examine a vulnerable complainant.

Education

University of Cambridge, LLB (Hons), Law.