Profile description
Regulatory Enforcement
Care Homes
Simon is one of the few counsel with experience in representing those facing criminal proceedings arising from their ownership or management of care homes, as well as having experience in representing those accused of ill-treating people in their care. He is pleased to be involved at an early stage, prior to interview or charge. Recent instructions include advising a substantial operator of care homes in relation to threats of prosecution apparently made in an attempt to force settlement of a (civil) overpayment claim.
Road Traffic
Simon’s practice has always extended to the regulatory enforcement side of road traffic law, including overloading and drivers’ hours cases, breaches of taxi and private hire regulations, and public enquiries before the Traffic Commissioner, including breaches of operators’ licences.
Local Authorities
Simon is instructed both to prosecute on behalf of local authorities and to defend those facing proceedings brought by local authorities, in planning, listed buildings, trading standards and environmental health matters, including waste disposal and fly tipping.
Simon has experience of both the prosecution and defence of cases involving houses in multiple occupation or unlawful eviction.
He has successfully prosecuted and defended a number of high-profile cases involving breaches or alleged breaches of enforcement notices that attracted considerable publicity, including “airport parking” cases.
Recent cases include:
• The defence of a company director accused by a trading standards department of significant fraud and numerous breaches of consumer protection regulations arising out of her directorship of a building company. Simon successfully challenged all of the charges, finding a solution to the case that involved his client instead pleading guilty to an offence under the Insolvency Act that did not result in a custodial sentence; Simon then successfully negotiated his client’s path through the subsequent proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
• The defence a so-called “rogue builder” accused of fraudulent trading, in which Simon was able to obtain a very significant reduction in the monetary value of the alleged fraud.
• The defence of a client charged under the Housing Act with failing to complete remedial action, in which Simon successfully argued that the proceeds were out of time, resulting in the proceedings’ being dropped.
Simon also advises and represents local authorities, both in judicial review and in appeals to the County Court, made under the Housing Act, with their quasi-judicial review character.
Recent cases include the successful response, on behalf of a local authority, to an appeal made by a litigant in person in a case that required sensitive handling.
In addition, Simon is one of the few counsel sought out to advise and represented local authorities in proceedings under the Mental Health Act.
Food Standards
Simon is also instructed by Government departments; recent cases include the prosecution of a bakery on behalf of the Food Standards Agency.
Animal Welfare
Simon has significant experience in animal welfare and associated cases, having both prosecuted and defended.
Recent such cases include the successful defence of a farmer accused of mistreating his pigs, and Simon’s reported cases include the successful appeal to the Court of Appeal in Dorset CC v House, in which he successful argued that a farmer (who he had not represented at trial) had been convicted (ostensibly under the Cattle Regulations) of offences not known to law.
His instructions in environmental matters include advising (both pre- and post-charge) and representing clients accused of the destruction of or interference with wildlife habitats.
Road Traffic Offences
Simon has very considerable experience in road traffic cases at all levels of seriousness, up to and including those involving fatal accidents, cases that frequently combine the need for extreme sensitivity with the need to master highly technical evidence and for the examination and cross-examination of experts.
Recent cases include:
• The defence of a man allegedly indulging in “racing” or “road rage” at high speeds along the M4.
• The defence of a man with severe autism charged with using his car as a weapon against a cyclist, causing serious injury as a result, in an incident of alleged “road rage”.
• The defence of an older lady who caused the death of a motorcyclist by turning across his path. Simon’s client received a community sentence.
• The defence of an elderly man who knocked over and caused the death of a neighbour while reversing. Simon’s client was spared an immediate custodial term of imprisonment.
• The defence of a vulnerable man charged with running down two elderly pedestrians.
• The defence of a driver charged with four counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving after the surfboards he was carrying on the roof of his car became detached. Simon’s client was acquitted of all charges, and he successfully argued that the prosecution were too late to charge alternative offences.
• The defence of a lorry driver charged with causing the death of a van driver after he drove into a queue of stationary traffic on the motorway (and whose subsequent disqualification Simon successfully challenged in the Court of Appeal).
In addition, Simon is always pleased to receive instructions from or on behalf of clients in danger of losing their livelihood through the loss of their driving licence or otherwise facing prosecution for motoring offences. He is regularly instructed in such cases on behalf of those who carry legal expenses insurance.
Judicial Review
Simon’s first reported case was R v Bristol Magistrates’ Court ex parte E (1988), an authority still cited in the practitioner textbooks, and others include Sak v CPS (2007).
His judicial review successes include challenges of Magistrates’ Courts’ decisions, on the one hand not to commit for sentence in drugs cases, and on the other to commit to prison for non-payment of monetary penalties.
In addition, Simon advises and represents in appeals under the Housing Act, with their quasi-judicial review nature. Recent cases include the successful response, on behalf of a local authority, to an appeal made by a litigant in person in a case that required sensitive handling.
Simon is also instructed by Government departments; recent cases include the prosecution of a bakery on behalf of the Food Standards Agency.
Mental Health
As a solicitor, Simon was a member of the Law Society’s Mental Health Review Tribunal panel and has continued to advise and represent in such cases as a member of the Bar, including as assigned counsel in cases of considerable sensitivity and where complex issues of capacity and restraint have arisen.
Additionally, Simon is one of the few counsel with experience of proceedings in the County Court to displace a patient’s “nearest relative”, where he has been instructed by local authorities, by lay clients and on behalf of the Official Solicitor.
Simon also has extensive experience of hearings before the Parole Board, particularly in “lifer” panels.
Recommendations
He has a particular interest and acclaimed expertise in cases where those accused of crime have mental health or intellectual difficulties. He represented the successful appellant in the reported case of R v C [2013], in which the Court of Appeal considered the law of insanity, automatism, voluntary intoxication and the mens rea of aggravated arson.
He is turned to in sensitive cases, such as that of a severely autistic man charged with a serious assault arising out of “road rage” or that of a troubled thirteen-year-old boy accused of sexual offences against an even younger girl.
His collaborative approach, rapport and sympathy, coupled with cogent advice and effective advocacy, are appreciated by clients and solicitors alike.
Scholarships and Memberships
- Grays Inn
- Western Circuit
- Criminal Bar Association
Qualifications
BA (Hons), Bristol; ARCO; LTCL
