Ruth Smith > Chambers of Christopher Rees > Cardiff, United Kingdom > Barrister Profile

Ruth Smith

029 2023 2032 ruth.smith@apexchambers.net

Position

Ruth is a specialist criminal advocate and member of the Criminal Bar Association. She has prosecuted for CPS and DWP in all manner of cases and of the most seriousness. She has defended cases of the utmost gravity including murders, rapes and robberies, grave sexual offences involving children, the full range of drug offences and various types of fraud and dishonesty, including POCA’s. She has been involved in many high profile cases including representing a defendant who used the internet to try and incite Riots in Cardiff during the time that riots were prevalent across the country (R v Jamie Counsell). Recently, Ruth was yet again a junior in a murder case. This was a three-handed armed robbery of a crack dealer. There were two trials, the latter resulting in a partial acquittal and hung Jury in relation to the murder. She specialises in cases involving vulnerable persons, both child (recently as young as four years of age) and adult and is well known for her skill in dealing with such witnesses. She made the national news with her success at the Court of Appeal recently, when she obtained the release of a mother who had been imprisoned for smacking a young child. This cases sparked media debate in relation to parental chastisement. She appeared on behalf of the Criminal Case Review Commission in R v Oliver, at the Court of Appeal, a case involving substantial mental health issues, where a sentence of life imprisonment was quashed and a hospital order substituted.

Career

Ruth was called to the Bar in 1987 and is a member of Grays Inn. She gained tenancy after pupillage, in London, at 3 Temple Gardens. She moved back to Cardiff in 1989. She has taught Advanced Crime and Advocacy Skills on the Bar Vocational Course at Cardiff University. She is a Grade 4 Prosecutor. She is on the Rape panel. She is APEX Chambers’ criminal Bar Association representative.

Education

Ruth was educated at the PATES Grammar School in Cheltenham and thereafter graduated with an LLB (hons) from University College Cardiff in 1985.