Crime News

3PB’s Criminal Law team has retained its top tier ranking in the Legal 500 for Crime (General and Fraud) in the Western Circuit and welcomes three new rankings: 14 of its 28 practitioners are now ranked by the Legal 500. In our clients’ words, “3PB is ‘a strong set with barristers of every level and specialism’ and continues to handle cases across a wide spectrum of serious criminal cases, spanning murders, large-scale drug conspiracies, sexual...

3PB achieves record rankings in the Legal 500’s 2025 edition

1st October 2024

3PB Barristers (3 Paper Buildings), one of the UK's largest chambers, is celebrating this year again its rankings - totalling 167 - in the Legal 500 2025’s edition published today, a 15% increase on last year’s 145. The set is ranked in 23 areas of law, across 4 UK Circuits: London, South Eastern, Western and the Midlands. 3PB’s barristers are also ranked in the Middle East and Asia Pacific regions. The Legal 500 acknowledges 3PB...

Berenice Mulvanny's client acquitted of false imprisonment

19th September 2024

3PB Barristers criminal barrister Berenice Mulvanny represented one of two Chichester community rangers who were charged with assault and false imprisonment of a 15 year old boy in Superdrug on 22nd March 2023. This case attracted considerable media attention after a short clip of the incident was published on the internet with allegations the incident was racially motivated. Miss Mulvanny's client detained the youth after being headbutted by the youth who was trying to shoplift....

Nick Robinson's client acquitted of assisting an offender in a 12-week murder and fraud trial

22nd August 2024

3PB Barristers' (3 Paper Buildings) criminal defence barrister Nick Robinson, led by Zafar Ali KC of 23ES Chambers, represented Edward Jones who was charged with assisting an offender and fraud. After a 12-week trial at Winchester Crown Court before the Recorder of Winchester HHJ Morris, Edward Jones was unanimously acquitted of both counts. Nick (pictured here) and Zafar were instructed by Philip McCann of Penfold & McPherson Solicitors. To contact Nick Robinson, or to instruct...

Anna Leathem joins 3PB from 5SAH

5th August 2024

Anna Leathem (call:2019), a regulatory, professional discipline and criminal barrister, has joined 3PB from 5SAH (5 St Andrew's Hill) in London and will be based from 3PB’s Winchester office. Anna acts on behalf of regulators and registrants. She recently completed a secondment with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and managed a large and varied caseload. She presented back-to-back substantive hearings in complex areas, including sexual misconduct and dishonesty, acted in interim order hearings, reviews...

Tom Horder sees two clients acquitted in separate high profile murder trials

23rd July 2024

Tom Horder (pictured here), who is co-head of 3PB's Tier 1 Crime team of barristers, has just concluded two back-to-back murder trials, both of which resulted in the acquittal of his clients. The first murder trial involved the widely publicised prosecution of the former Mayor of Winchester for attempting to kill his terminally-ill, 92 year old mother. Whilst the pathology evidence showed no evidence of a deliberate malicious act, in calls to the Police and...

Crime and regulatory law newsletter out now

13th June 2024

Welcome to our third crime and regulatory law newsletter edited by Oliver Hirsch, featuring our conference on 13 September as well as crime news and analysis from Oliver Hirsch, Kate Davies, Jo Martin KC, Gemma White, Tom Acworth, Berenice Mulvanny, Sunyana Sharma, Rebecca McKnight and Holly Fagan.

Three 3PB barristers become members

9th May 2024

3PB are pleased to announce that three barristers have become full tenants of the 250-barrister national chambers. Rhiannon Frowde, Kate Davies and Charlotte Steer (pictured left to right from the top) have all successfully completed their probationary tenancies with 3PB, having done all or some of their pupillages at other chambers. Former medical research fellow Rhiannon Frowde (call:2022) is based from 3PB's London office and will continue to focus on clinical negligence and personal injury...

Holly Fagan secures not guilty verdicts for client accused of 4 years of coercive and controlling behaviour and assault

23rd April 2024

3PB Barristers’ specialist crime and regulatory barrister, Holly Fagan, secured not guilty verdicts for her client accused of engaging in coercive and controlling behaviour over a 4-year relationship, and one charge of assault by beating. Holly’s client accepted that it was a toxic and dysfunctional relationship but did not accept the criminal allegations. Holly’s detailed s28 cross-examination of the complainant highlighted the weaknesses and inconsistencies in her account. The unused material proved crucial to the...

Jonathan Underhill secures unanimous acquittal in 'EncroChat' drugs case

8th April 2024

3PB’s specialist criminal and regulatory barrister Jonathan Underhill was instructed in Operation Scowl; a complex multi-Defendant drugs case, following the National Crime Agency’s Operation Emma and Operation Venetic into the use of the "EncroChat’ network; and secured the unanimous acquittal of his client. Five of the nine Defendants proceeded to trial accused of involvement in the supply of Class A drugs operating principally over EncroChat between 2019 and 2020. They were alleged to have been...

Rebecca McKnight secures acquittal of client accused of witness intimidation

28th March 2024

3PB crime and regulatory barrister Rebecca McKnight’s client was accused of making threats towards two individuals, one of whom had acted as a witness in a case involving an acquaintance of the defendant. They were also accused of offering money in exchange for the case being dropped against this acquaintance. Rebecca’s client said this had simply not happened and they knew nothing about a case involving this other individual. Since the accusation her client had...

Jodie Mittell involved in successful joint enterprise murder prosecution

27th March 2024

3PB's Crime barrister Jodie Mittell acted for the Crown, led by Adam Vaitilingam KC, in a five-handed murder trial. The trial, at Winchester Crown Court, lasted eight weeks and concluded earlier this month with the jury unanimously convicting three defendants of murder and the other two of manslaughter. Two further defendants had already pleaded guilty to conspiracy to rob. The Crown's case was that the seven men had together planned a robbery. The five trial...