James Gwatkin

James Gwatkin

Prosecutes and defends serious crime.

YEAR OF CALL 2017

Education

Sept 2016 – June 2017: BPTC, University of Law (Very Competent)
Sept 2015 – June 2016: GDL, University of Sheffield (Distinction)
Oct 2012 – June 2015: BA (Hons) in History and Politics, University of Warwick (First Class)

Awards

Advanced Criminal Practice Award, University of Law (highest mark in Advanced Criminal Practice module on BPTC)
Exhibition Award, Inner Temple (to fund BPTC)
Irwin Mitchell Award, University of Sheffield (highest marks in the GDL year group)
Bail Application Competition Winner, University of Sheffield
Exhibition Award, Inner Temple (to fund GDL)

Appointments

CPS Panel Advocate – Level 3
Secretary of Kalisher Trust
Education sub-committee member, Criminal Bar Association

Memberships

The Honourable Society of Inner Temple
Criminal Bar Association
South Eastern Circuit

Overview of Practice

James joined chambers in October 2019 following successful completion of his pupillage. He prosecutes and defends predominately in the Crown Court as junior alone and led junior, and also undertakes cases in the magistrates’ court, youth court and first-tier tax tribunal. He has appeared in the Court of Appeal. He is developing a strong practice in all of Chambers’ main areas of work with a particular emphasis on defence work.

James prosecutes for the CPS, Probation and local authorities at all stages of criminal proceedings (including pre-charge). James is instructed by the Home Office and the Director of Border Revenue in cash forfeiture and condemnation hearings. James defends in all types of cases including allegations of violence, dishonesty, public order, drug offences, weapons offences and driving offences. He is noted for his experience and expertise in representing young and vulnerable defendants, and has completed vulnerable witness training organised by the Inns of Court College of Advocacy (ICCA). James often works with instructing solicitors at an early stage to advise on evidence and strategy, and draft representations to prosecuting authorities to avoid prosecution altogether.

His current defence instructions in the Crown Court include allegations of s.18/20 GBH, misconduct in public office, robbery, drug trafficking, fraud and possession of weapons.

Prior to joining Foundry, James worked as a criminal defence paralegal at leading firm Hickman and Rose. He assisted partners and associates in a range of cases particularly focussing on allegations of sexual offending (both current and historical) and financial malpractice. James gained invaluable experience and knowledge of the whole criminal justice process from police investigation through to appeal and other post-conviction/acquittal matters.

Whilst undertaking his legal studies James represented excluded children and their parents in school exclusion proceedings as a Communities Empowerment Network advocate. He also taught debating to prisoners through the Vocalise project. James is the Secretary of the Kalisher Trust, a charity striving for greater diversity at the criminal Bar by developing advocacy skills of young people and providing internship opportunities for those seeking pupillage. He also sits on the education sub-committee of the Criminal Bar Association.

Notable cases to date include:

R v MM (Southwark Crown Court, 2021) – MM was initially charged with 45 offences under the Air Navigation Order 2016. MM was accused of flying a drone at various sensitive locations in Westminster and Lambeth over a sustained period. With the assistance of instructing solicitors, James and Daisy Kell-Jones managed to persuade the Crown to discontinue all but 7 of the charges across several hearings. The Crown accepted guilty pleas to 4 charges. At Westminster Magistrates’ Court MM was fined £4200 for the 4 offences in total. James appealed this sentence at Southwark Crown Court. The Court allowed the appeal, reducing the total fine to £550. The statutory surcharge was also reduced from £470 to £55.

R v Scott Rowlett [2020] EWCA 1758 – Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) – Led by John McGuinness QC. Appeal concerning legality of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO). Appealed over two years out of time whilst staying proceedings for breach of the order in the Crown Court. SHPO quashed on appeal and replaced with order that could have been correctly made.

R v AR (Harrow Crown Court, 2020) – Instructed to represent defendant on appeal to the Crown Court having being convicted of assault by beating at first instance. The whole incident was captured on CCTV and took place in a wider context of public disorder. Appeal allowed on the basis of self-defence.

R v KQ (Staines Magistrates’ Court/Guildford Crown Court, 2019) – Instructed to represent defendant at first instance who was accused of various driving offences and fail to provide a specimen of blood. After securing acquittals in relation to the driving offences in the magistrates’ court, instructed to represent the Defendant on appeal to the Crown Court. Prosecution offered no evidence to the fail to provide charge on the day of the hearing following consideration of expert evidence on the defendant’s needle phobia.

R v ER (Isleworth Crown Court, 2023) – Led by Richard Jory KC, defending in a murder trial. Defendant pleaded guilty to manslaughter at an early stage of proceedings, the single issue at trial for murder was intent. Acquitted within 90 minutes. Sentence of 4 years 8 months imprisonment imposed.

Operation Iron (Birmingham Crown Court, 2023) – Led by John McGuinness KC, defending second defendant in misconduct in public office case involving the alleged leaking of sensitive police information by a corrupt police officer to civilians.

Operation Larkspur (2023) – Led by John McGuinness KC, prosecuting alleged fraudulent claims for legal costs from public funds.

R v XX (Harrow Crown Court, 2022) – Instructed to represent defendant accused of witness intimidation and common assault. Complainant was defendant’s next door neighbour with the incident occurring whilst live proceedings for a serious assault were underway. Acquitted of both charges following a three-day trial.

R v SH (Harrow Crown Court, 2022) – Led by Neil Griffin, defending the first defendant in a large, multi-handed class A drugs supply conspiracy. 15,000 pages of evidence with the Crown relying on extensive cell site and phone data evidence. Two previous drug trafficking convictions admitted into evidence. Acquitted of all charges after a 3-week trial.

R v SS / ZM (Kingston Crown Court, 2022) – Instructed to prosecute two defendants accused of dwelling burglary. Identification raised as a defence. Convictions secured following a 3-day trial.

R v MM (Croydon Crown Court, 2022) – Instructed to represent defendant accused of assault occasioning ABH against his brother-in-law in the family home. Identification raised as the defence. Acquitted following 2 hours of deliberations.

R v AKA (Woolwich Crown Court, 2022) – Instructed to represent defendant accused of ABH x 2 against his then partner. Injuries included a fractured eye socket. Self-defence raised, previous conviction of assault against the same complainant admitted into evidence. Following a 3-day trial, secured unanimous acquittal on one count, hung jury on the other. Crown offered no evidence at the conclusion of the trial.

R v TA (Central Criminal Court sitting at Monument, 2022) – Instructed to represent defendant of good character accused of breach of a non-molestation order, assault by beating and assault by beating of an emergency worker. Successfully persuaded the Crown it was not in the public interest to continue with the breach of a non-molestation order and simple assault charges. Hung jury on the assault by beating of an emergency worker. Crown offered no evidence at the conclusion of the trial. Successfully resisted application for a restraining order.

R v ID and others (Wood Green Crown Court, 2021-2022) – Led by Henrietta Paget, prosecuting four defendants accused of various offences under the Modern Slavery Act, together with connected benefit / bogus compensation claim frauds. All defendants convicted of each count they were charged with on indictment following a 7-week trial. Lead defendants received 9 years imprisonment.

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R v EW (Central Criminal Court sitting at Monument, 2021) – Instructed to represent defendant accused of racially aggravated criminal damage and racially aggravated public order offences during alleged road rage incident against a stranger’s car. Photos of damage and two civilian witnesses relied upon by the Crown. Factual denial raised as a defence. Unanimously acquitted of all charges following a 3-day trial and 95 minutes of deliberations.

R v MT (Newport (Isle of Wight) Crown Court, 2021) – Instructed to represent a young defendant of good character accused of assaulting a paramedic by beating whilst drunk. Paramedic and three officers called for the Crown as witnesses of fact, and BWV covering the incident relied upon. Defendant raised factual denial as a defence. Unanimously acquitted after a 3-day trial and 90 minutes of jury deliberations.

R v DA (Harrow Crown Court, 2021) – Instructed to prosecute defendant accused of PWITS class A x 2, dangerous driving and assault by beating of an emergency worker. 8-day trial involved treating the main prosecution witness as hostile. Defendant convicted of dangerous driving, acquitted of the assault with a hung jury on the drugs offences.

R v AS (Harrow Crown Court, 2021) – Instruct to represent defendant accused of possession of an offensive weapon, common assault and racially aggravated words or behaviour causing harassment, alarm or distress. All alleged offences captured on video. Defendant tried in absence following refusal to attend. Secured unanimous acquittals on all charges following two hours of jury deliberations.

R v AQ (Wood Green Crown Court, 2021) – Instructed to prosecute defendant accused of assault occasioning ABH. Conviction secured following a 4-day trial and cross examination of a facial mapping expert called by the defence. Praised by resident judge who presided over the trial for presentation of the case and cross examination of defence witnesses.

R v SR (St Albans Crown Court, 2021) – Following a stay in proceedings for appeal proceedings to take place (see Rowlett above), represented the defendant in proceedings for multiple breaches of a SHPO. 4 counts of an 8-count indictment were not proceeded with following submission of an application to dismiss. 6 months imprisonment concurrent on each of the breaches despite the offending taking place over nearly 18 months.

R v RDJ (Snaresbrook Crown Court, 2020) – Instructed to represent a defendant accused of dangerous driving. Successful application to dismiss following written and oral submissions.

R v A (Reading Youth Court, 2019) – Instructed to represent a youth of good character charged with the possession of an offensive weapon. Successful submission of no case to answer following cross examination of a 14-year-old witness.

R v LA (Ealing Magistrates’ Court, 2019) – Instructed to represent a defendant accused of a public order offence in a bookmakers. Successful submission of no case to answer following legal submissions.

R v FB (Central Criminal Court sitting at Holborn, 2022) – Instructed to represent a homeless defendant suffering with mental health problems accused of throwing a hot drink in the face of a “good Samaritan” in a racially motivated assault. Also charged with assault another member of the public and possession of a bladed article. Acquitted of all charges after 45 minutes of deliberation, maintaining the defendant’s good character.

R v DG (Reading Crown Court, 2022) – Instructed to represent vulnerable defendant accused of arson reckless as whether life was endangered. Alleged to have set fire to a room of a local authority temporary housing block. Multiple mental health / drug addiction issues. Following analysis of the fire inspection report and representations made to the Crown, plea to simple arson acceptable on the day of trial. 4 months imprisonment imposed resulting in the defendant’s immediate release from custody.

R v MR (Inner London Crown Court, 2021) – Instructed to represent defendant in an trial of issue following the defendant being found unfit to plead. Secured acquittals on 3 of the 7 offences charged. Following representations, the judge agreed that no criminal behaviour order could be made as had been applied for by the Crown. The defendant was given an absolute discharge (including for an obstructing the railway charge which caused over £800,000 worth of damage to National Rail).

R v MR (Inner London Crown Court, 2021) – Instructed to represent defendant in an trial of issue following the defendant being found unfit to plead. Secured acquittals on 3 of the 7 offences charged. Following representations, the judge agreed that no criminal behaviour order could be made as had been applied for by the Crown. The defendant was given an absolute discharge (including for an obstructing the railway charge which caused over £800,000 worth of damage to National Rail).

R v H (High Wycombe Youth Court, 2020) – Instructed to represent a 13-year-old defendant accused of criminal damage relating to two separate incidents of damaging cars. Acquitted after trial on the basis of identification.

R v MR (Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court, 2020) – Instructed to represent defendant with severe bipolar and personality disorders. Charged with over 25 offences across 5 sets of proceedings. Found unfit to plead. Successful application to vacate earlier guilty pleas. Crown discontinued all charges following representations being made.

R v AI (Luton Magistrates’ Court, 2020) – Instructed to prosecute defendant who was accused of assaulting four immigration detention officers. Vulnerable defendant assisted by an intermediary during a 3-day trial. Case involved issues surrounding use of force by detention officers, psychiatric evidence of dissociation and PTSD, and the defendant’s mistake of fact. National press interest.

R v N (Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court, 2019) – Instructed to represent a defendant of good character accused of assaulting her son. Acquitted after trial following cross examination of the 12-year-old complainant.

R v AD (Cardiff Crown Court, 2022) – Instructed to represent a defendant of good character a few weeks prior to trial in a sensitive causing serious injury by dangerous driving case. Following a review of unused material, several requests made leading to the unearthing of a large amount of material assisting the defence. Following this and representations concerning the expert evidence in the case, the Crown offered no evidence.

Operation B (2020-2021) – 4-month secondment. Instructed as disclosure counsel by the Financial Conduct Authority in a case involving an alleged multimillion accounting fraud in a large PLC.

R v KB (Wood Green Crown Court, 2020) – Instructed to represent defendant accused of possession of a bladed article. Targeted and persistent disclosure requests led to the prosecution offering no evidence despite the defendant being found with the article on his person.

R v PP and others (Southampton Crown Court, 2018-2019) – Assisted pupil supervisor Neil Griffin who represented a defendant in a 2-month multi-handed cheating the revenue trial, dealing specifically with large volumes of unused material disclosed before and during the trial. Defendant acquitted after trial (all co-defendants convicted).

R v JM (Reading Crown Court, 2022) – Instructed to represent a defendant accused of s.18 GBH, affray and driving whilst disqualified. Large neighbour dispute which resulted in substantial head injuries to the complainant. Crown accepted a plea to affray and driving whilst disqualified on the day of trial. 12-month community order with rehabilitation days imposed. Driving licence retained.

R v GS (Central Criminal Court, 2022) – Privately instructed to represent man of effective good character who had pleaded guilty to attempted sexual communications with a child and attempting to cause a child under 13 to look at an image of sexual activity. Offending included the sending of multiple images to a police officer working under cover as a 12 year old child online across a two month time period. 22-week suspended sentence imposed.

R v PH (Maidstone Crown Court, 2022) – Instructed to represent defendant of effective good character who had pleaded guilty to dangerous driving. Defendant, three times over the limit for alcohol intake parked his car on a slip road to a major motorway at night causing a collision and injuries to another road user. 9-month suspended sentence imposed.

R v B (Croydon Crown Court, 2021) – Instructed to represent a youth defendant accused of robbery and s.18 wounding. During the course of the robbery, the defendant was seen on CCTV to stab the complainant with a large knife. Following representations being made to the Crown, pleas to robbery and s.20 wounding were accepted. The defendant received an 18-month Detention and Training Order following representations.

R v JH (Aylesbury Crown Court, 2021) – Instructed to represent defendant who committed a distraction burglary against an elderly victim. Defendant had multiple convictions for similar offences. Minimum sentence of 3 years imposed after late guilty plea in proceedings.

R v AC (Snaresbrook Crown Court, 2020) – Instructed to represent a young defendant who had pleaded guilty to possession of a “zombie” knife, possession of an imitation firearm and possession of cannabis. The defendant had multiple convictions for weapons offences and was in breach of a conditional discharge for a knife offence imposed a few months earlier. 8 months imprisonment imposed in total, with the breach of the conditional discharge marked with a 1-day sentence of imprisonment.

R v SB (Ealing Magistrates’ Court, 2020) – Instructed to represent defendant who had pleaded guilty to drink driving. Fine imposed despite the defendant being almost three times over the legal limit and being involved in a collision.

R v MW (Lincoln Crown Court, 2019) – Instructed to represent a serving prisoner who was accused of a dwelling burglary against disabled victim prior to his detention. Guilty plea on day of trial. Following mitigation, the defendant was given a 6-month sentence to run concurrently to his existing sentence meaning his release date was extended by 1 month.

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