New Park Court Chambers

Crime, Regulatory

Geraldine Kelly KC is an experienced and extremely able criminal practitioner, who manages a well-balanced practice, consisting of both defence and prosecution work, covering all aspects of criminal law. She delivers reliable and sound advice to her clients.

Appearing in the Crown Court on a daily basis has developed her special aptitude for dealing with witnesses, including vulnerable adults, children and experts. Her impressive hard work and attention to detail have allowed her to deal with cases involving voluminous and complex evidence.

Regulatory Offences

• Operation Flip [Leeds Crown Court] (2017). Defended company director accused of various offences within the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, involving the intimidation / deception of elderly / vulnerable customers. The case involved a substantial amount of financial and computer evidence.
• Operation Verbatim [Leeds Crown Court] (2018) - Defended company director accused of gross negligence manslaughter and fraud, when a baby died in a cot built by him in the course of his business. He then started up a new company and sold a bed, misrepresenting that it had been made to British Standards. This case also involved Health and safety at work practises. The case involved a large volume of computer evidence, namely IP access of email addresses. Defendant pleaded guilty to section 3 Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 after the prosecution case had closed. This was accepted by the prosecution.

Murder & Manslaughter

• R v Saqlain Ali and others (2026) - Secured the only acquittal in a 7-handed murder, involving joint enterprise issues, concerning a large-scale knife fight. The 7-week trial involved CCTV evidence and complex family dynamics. Our client was unanimously acquitted of both murder and manslaughter.
• R v Martin Hoyland (2025) - Murder, defence. The case involved a successful legal argument to exclude the hearsay account and successful legal argument to introduce the previous convictions of 2 major prosecution witnesses.
• R v Steven Lawton (2025) - Prosecution for murder, defence of loss of self-control due to intoxication. Dissected 3 months of messages between the parties to demonstrate that what he was saying was untrue.

Other Violent Offences

• Operation Analogue (2024) - Prosecuted 7 defendants in nationwide conspiracy to convert blank firing pistols into prohibited weapons.
• R v Emad Kaky (2024) - First case in the UK involving conspiracy to perform female genital mutilation (FGM) in Iraq and forced marriage. This involved a jurisdiction point, whether FGM was an offence in Iraq as a preliminary issue of law (in order for the defendant to be tried for conspiracy to carry out FGM in Iraq).
• R v AG [York Crown Court] (2020) - Defended a 16 year old from the travelling community, jointly charged with 2 others with blowing up ATMs and stealing cash around the country. Case involved voluminous cell site/call/ANPR data and CCTV footage.

Rape & Sexual Offences

• R v LC (2025) - Successfully defended male accused of controlling and coercive behaviour and multiple rapes alleged to have occurred during a relationship. Case involved a successful section 41 Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 application.
• Operation Tourway (2024) - Leeds Crown Court – Grooming trial involving 10 males. Successfully defended a male accused of raping the complainant on two occasions when she was aged under 16.
• R v JJ (2023) - Successfully defended a male, with autism, charged with 5 rapes and 1 attempted rape of a female aged 13-17. One attempted rape was caught on camera footage.

Fraud & Dishonesty Offences

• Operation Oak (2025) - Represented a Company Director accused of fraudulent trading, contrary to section 993 of the Companies Act 2006. Negotiated a plea and basis to one count and £300,000. The case involved a legal argument in relation to the admissibility of the bad character.
• R v Gillian Messen and 5 others (2025) - Operation Apple – Largest case in the UK to date, for a 6-handed conspiracy to import 92 million cannisters of Nitrous Oxide/£13 million money laundering.
• R v NH (2024) - Successfully defended woman accused of money laundering cash said to have derived from the drug dealing of her partner.

Drugs & POCA Offences

• Operation Flip [Leeds Crown Court] (2017) POCA proceedings of around £1,000,000.
• Operation Kaitlyn [Burnley Crown Court] (2014-2015). Defended one of 6 males, in a case involving a joint West Yorkshire/Lancashire operation for conspiracy to supply class A controlled drugs and possession of prohibited firearms. The voluminous evidence included surveillance, cell site data,telephone traffic data and ANPR data.

Court Martial

• R v M [Catterick Court Martial Centre] (2017) - Defended soldier charged with AWOL.
• R v KGN J-L [Catterick Court Martial Centre] (2016) - Defended KGN charged with desertion.

Modern Slavery

• R v MI [Leeds Crown Court] (2022) - Prosecuted an 18 year old male accused of modern slavery, involving him forcing a vulnerable male with mental health difficulties to allow him to deal drugs from his home and drive him around. The victim was subject to repeated, humiliating beatings and sexual assaults.

CPS Grade 4 Prosecutor Prosecution Rape Panel Qualified Advocacy Trainer Vulnerable Witness Training Facilitator