The 36 Group is ‘a strong chambers with quality, reliable barristers at every level, for both prosecution and defence’. Mary Prior KC successfully defended a young man with severe schizophrenia who was acquitted of the murder of his mother, whom he fatally stabbed in the street, believing she was an alien intent on destroying the world. ’An assiduous and conscientious barrister’, Christopher Donnellan KC prosecuted a 51-year-old man convicted of murdering his mother in a complex case involving issues of fitness to plead, conflicting psychiatric evidence, legal arguments over the reliability of a 999 call made by the defendant. Sarah Knight, noted as ‘a highly capable advocate’, prosecuted a cross-border organised crime group from a travelling community involved in a conspiracy to steal and burgle over £500,000 from ATMs across England and Scotland.
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36 Crime
Position
Christopher Donnellan KC has extensive experience in prosecuting and defending serious crime including murder, manslaughter, and death by driving. He has particular expertise in health and safety cases involving death in the workplace and transport industry. He has also prosecuted serious sexual offence cases including a country wide paedophile group.
Prosecuting on the Midlands and South Eastern Circuits he has presented complex cases to the jury involving gunshot residue, DNA, mobile ‘phone and cell site data, and CCTV imagery. Recent cases included the attempted murder in Leicester of four victims chosen at random : the first a child mown down by a car, and others stabbed in the street: an elderly man on his way to the shop, a mother collecting her child after school, and a child standing on the pavement as his mother parked her car, (R -v- Racitalal) with evidence pieced together from complex expert imagery comparison from CCTV. Similar use of imagery from CCTV together with DNA and footprint evidence led to a conviction for murder (R -v- Jessop). He prosecuted the case of the murder of a 9 year child as she played in street, the jury found that the defendant had done the act:(R -v- Skebas).
Defending, he recently secured the acquittal of murder (joint enterprise) of one of group of young men present when the victim was stabbed in the street in Oxford, successfully challenging the interpretation of the CCTV evidence as presented by the Crown. He secured the acquittal on a charge of murder (joint enterprise) of a vulnerable man starved to death, receiving a determinate and lesser sentence for allowing the death (R -v- Rickard). He also successfully argued for a stay of proceedings in a case involving injuries caused to a baby, not simply because of inordinate delay in bringing the case to trial but because of the delay having such a significant impact on her mental health.
With his experience of prosecuting a train driver following the Watford train crash in which one person died and others seriously injured he was invited to co-author the response of the Bar to the Corporate Manslaughter Bill, and gave evidence to the House of Commons Committee. He successfully secured the acquittal of a maintenance manager prosecuted over the death in the work place when a piece of machinery exploded. He defendant the owner of a transport company charged with manslaughter when one of the drivers was killed while transporting goods in breach of working time regulations involving tachograph evidence and cross examination of a sleep expert. Prosecuting, he secured convictions on health and safety offences against a company director personally, and his company, for a death on a building site.
Career
Called 1981; Inner Temple; Silk 2008. Recorder 2002 (Crown Court).
Areas of experience:
Homicide
Health and Safety
Financial Crime
Languages
English
Memberships
Criminal Bar Association; Midland Circuit.
Education
John Fisher School, Purley; Queen’s College, Oxford (1980 BA Hons jurisprudence).
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- 'Jack Curtis stands out for his calm efficiency and willingness to get the best result possible. Daisy Parsons and Lewis Collier are long-term diary planners, seamlessly resolving diary management issues with pinpoint accuracy.'
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- 'The clerks are always helpful and honest. Elliot Styles goes out of his way to help with difficult situations.'
- 'Jack Curtis stands out for his extensive next-day diary management skills, and you know your case is in safe hands when managed by Daisy Parsons and Lewis Collier.'
- 'The 36 Group has a strong reputation in the legal field.'
- 'The 36 Group is a powerhouse in crime.'
- 'The 36 Group is an excellent set of chambers, displaying strength and depth at all levels.'
- 'The 36 Group is an exceptional set of barristers who are all first class.'