Crown Office Chambers 'remains at the top of its game in the health and safety arena'. In a high-profile matter, John Cooper KC and Sandesh Singh defended North East London NHS Trust in a longrunning case which involved allegations of corporate manslaughter and a breach of s3 HSWA 1974 arising from the death of a patient in a mental health facility; the trust was acquitted of the charge of corporate manslaughter. Elsewhere in chambers, Simon Antrobus KC, Mike Atkins and Katie Sage are representing Jersey's domestic gas distributor in a case involving allegations of manslaughter and corporate manslaughter arising from the Haut De Mont explosion in 2022, which resulted in the complete destruction of a block of flats and ten fatalities.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Mentions
Profile
Position
Katie specialises in criminal regulatory law, inquests and inquires.
She has been instructed as junior counsel for one of the public authority Core Participants in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry for the past four years and is particularly well placed to advise in fire safety related cases.
Alongside the Inquiry, Katie has recently represented a Company Director who pleaded guilty to a section 37 offence, helping him to avoid a custodial sentence in circumstances where 26 weeks custody was the starting point under the Guidelines. She has also continued to develop her practice representing corporate defendants in both the Magistrates’ and Crown Courts, as well as in the Coroner’s Court. She is currently instructed in a prosecution relating to an external wall cladding system under the Housing Act 2004 and in respect of the Corporate Manslaughter prosecution of Greenfeeds Ltd, led by Mark Balysz.
Katie’s experience crosses a broad range of industries including: housing, manufacturing, recycling, construction, retail and agriculture. She also has experience in relation to road traffic related prosecutions.
Katie retains a complimentary civil law practice, specialising in personal injury (employers’ and public liability) and property damage (escape of water and fire). In her civil practice, she has experience drafting pleadings and advices for cases across all three civil “tracks” and both as a trial advocate and at interim hearings, including CCMCs.
Career
Call 2014; Lincoln's Inn
Memberships
HSLA, PNBA, PIBA
Education
BPTC (Outstanding); Bachelor of Civil Law; BA Jurisprudence (Hons) Oxon, First Class; Hardwicke Scholarship, Lincoln’s Inn; Lord Denning Scholarship, Lincoln’s Inn; Buchanan Prize, Lincoln’s Inn; Sir Roger Bannister Scholarship, Pembroke College, Oxford; Pembroke College Exhibitioner.
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Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Toby Sparrow is excellent.'
- 'Toby and Lisa Searle are simply amazing - an asset to Crown Office Chambers.'
- 'Toby and Lisa are fantastic clerks who provide exceptional service.'
- 'Superb clerking.'
- 'Crown Office Chambers has established itself as a leading set for health and safety work. The chambers offer impressive strength-in-depth, with a range of talented barristers at various levels of seniority.'
- 'Crown Office are the go-to set for health and safety defence work. Fantastic strength in depth with leading silks and juniors alike. They are unrivalled.'
- 'Crown Office Chambers remains at the pinnacle for all health and safety work. They have a great breadth and strength of depth.'