New Park Court Chambers is a ‘well-regarded set, with strength in depth throughout the criminal team’, handling both high-profile prosecution and defence work. Robert Smith KC prosecuted in the trial of a defendant extradited from Pakistan, who was convicted of masterminding the 2005 robbery that resulted in the murder of PC Sharon Beshenivsky. ’An exceptional barrister’, Nicholas Lumley KC is regarded as ‘the best choice of barrister for vulnerable or technical cases’, and defended a schoolboy charged with the murder of another pupil, an incident that occurred in front of dozens of children and staff at a city school. Adam Birkby successfully prosecuted a woman who was sentenced to three years for failing to disclose her teenage son’s Islamic fundamentalist-inspired suicide bomb plot. The team was bolstered at the senior end following Geraldine Kelly KC’s elevation to silk in March 2025.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Profile
Work Department
Crime, Regulatory
Position
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 MF [Grimsby Crown Court] (2022) - Prosecuted a man charged with two counts of rape after DNA evidence linked him to assaults against different women. The defendant was given a life sentence.
- R v AL [Leeds Crown Court] (2022) - Defended a step-father jointly charged with the mother of the deceased with murdering her 15 year old son, by repeatedly beating him over an 8 month period.
Other Violent Offences
- 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.
- R v E [Leeds Crown Court] (2018) - Defended a male accused of section 18 wounding with intent, stabbing another young male (age 17 at the time of the hearing) but 16 at the time of the offence.
Rape & Sexual Offences
- R v WP [Hull Crown Court] (2021) - Defended a 70 year old defendant accused of historic rape of an 11 year old girl. Acquitted
- R v HS [Nottingham Crown Court] (2021) - Defended a 25 year old male, jointly charged with 5 others accused of sexual activity with a child under 16, relating to an alleged grooming gang.
Fraud & Dishonesty Offences
- R v G [Leeds Crown Court] (2018). Defended male charged with conspiracy to commit fraud with 5 others, relating to obtaining credit at builders’ merchants, obtaining goods and then not paying for them. The indictment covered a period of and involved £170,000 + of credit obtained.
- R v B [Grimsby Crown Court] (2017) - Prosecuted a female who was the treasurer of a charity for fraud, abusing a position of trust. The case involved a large volume of accounting data, work diaries and receipts.
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.
Memberships
- CPS Grade 4 Prosecutor
- Prosecution Rape Panel
- Qualified Advocacy Trainer
- Vulnerable Witness Training Facilitator
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Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'All of the team are communicative, cooperative and assistive. Teresa Pugh is recommended.'
- 'Teresa Pugh is always helpful.'
- 'The clerks are personable and quick to respond to urgent requests.'
- 'The clerks are always very friendly and accommodating.'
- 'New Park Court Chambers has a well-deserved reputation for efficient and successful clerking.'
- 'New Park Court Chambers is an excellent set, which provides elite barristers at the top of each of its practice groups.'
- 'New Park Court Chambers is an excellent set of barristers.'
- 'New Park Court Chambers are a good solid stable of criminal barristers. It has exceptionally talented barristers amongst their number, both silks and juniors.'
- 'New Park Court Chambers is a sophisticated and high-end set of chambers. All members are intelligent, skilful and dedicated to their work.'