Mark Thomas

Mark is a Level 3 Prosecutor and regularly appears in the Crown Court. Mark has developed a strong prosecution practice in the Crown Court and strives to obtain further instructions in more complex and challenging cases. Mark is regularly instructed in contested and uncontested Probation matters and is considered a expert in this field, with his professional opinion being regularly sought by practitioners and judges alike. Mark’s expertise in this area has resulted in him publishing the first and only text focused entirely on Probation matters, entitled A Practical Guide to Probation Breaches and other Applications, with the Recorder of Sheffield, HHJ Richardson KC, writing the foreword to the text.

Court of Appeal:

• R v Talukder [2025] EWCA Crim 725: Appeared for the Respondent in the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) following a Reference made by the Attorney General under s.36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 on the basis that their sentence was unduly lenient. The case has been covered on Gov.uk, ITV, BBC and the Star.

Cases of note:

• R v Bierton (2026): Defended in a case of robbery of two convenience stores with use of offensive weapons. Mark successfully persuaded the Court not to find the defendant to be a “dangerous offender” despite his previous convictions for robbery.
• R v Akeroyd (2026): Prosecuted a case where the defendant had incited a 15-year-old to engage in sexual activity.
• R v Carroll & Ors (2026): Prosecuted a case involving a string of robberies involving an adult male and three youths. The adult male had threatened shop workers with a knife and had coerced the youths into assisting him. The adult defendant was sentenced to 89 months’ imprisonment.
• R v Cawthorne (2026): Prosecuted a case of obstructing a railway and affray where the defendant caused £185,567 worth of delays and disruption to National Rail over a course of four hours.
• R v Parkes (2025): Secured a suspended sentence order for a defendant convicted of s.18 GBH, having bitten off the ears of the victim.
• R v Bates (2025): Prosecuted an animal suffering case involving the use of dogs to inflict unnecessary suffering, pain, and death to a variety of animals including deers, hares, and domesticated pets such as cats. Extensive work undertaken to ensure that all future protections were put in place to prevent the defendant from having any interaction with animals. The case was covered by the BBC and the Star.
• R v Odimma (2025): Prosecuted a case involving the sophisticated bringing of cannabis into prison; the defendant had concealed cannabis within chocolate bar wrappers.
• R v Osborne (2025): Prosecuted a former Bradford City football player for theft and harassment of his ex-partner. Sentence to follow. The case was covered by The Star.
• R v Christmas (2025): Prosecuted a trial of fact against a woman charged with robbery of a dog. The defendant approached a member of the public, punched her to the face, and thereafter stole her dog. The woman was found to have done the act and the trial judge imposed a s.37 Hospital Order against her.
• R v Hassan (2025): Defended a sentence of intentional exposure and outraging public decency for a male who had intentionally masturbated in a public place in the presence of members of the public, including children. The case was covered by The Star.
• R v Naveed (2025): Prosected in a trial of issue (“Newton Hearing”). The issue before the Court was whether the defendant knew that he was in possession of a prohibited firearm. Ultimately the defendant abandoned his basis of plea and was sentenced on the full facts of the prosecution case. The case was covered on the BBC.
• R v Brown (2025); R v Whitelam (2025); R v Wragg (2025): Prosecuted three separate cases of violent disorder arising out of the incident of civil unrest on 4 August 2024 (often referred to as the Manvers Riots). Over 60 Police officers to have been injured as a result of this disorder, including being rendered unconscious, suffering broken bones, soft tissue injuries, and psychological trauma. Harm was also caused to Police service animals and the cost to the public purse was in excess of £1 million.
• R v Qatan & Ors (2025): Defended in a multi-handed case of violent disorder dating back to September 2020 where several victims suffered serious physical injuries. Defendant was acquitted following a successful submission of no case to answer based on the insufficiency of identification evidence and CCTV footage. The trial judge referred to those submissions as being “relevant, cogent and entirely persuasive.”
• R v Galloway; Mellor (2025): Prosecuted a sentence for affray and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The case involved the application of the dangerous offender provisions and submissions on the legal parameters (both in legislation and case law) on the imposition of extended sentences. This included submissions on the permissibility of aggregate sentences for specified and non-specified offences.
• R v Booth; Farrar (2025): Prosecuted a trial for supplying crack cocaine to an undercover officer. This case was part of a large-scale police investigation in South Yorkshire named “Operation Destine”. The case involved issues of witness anonymity, public interest immunity, and the admission of bad character evidence for dissimilar matters to correct a false impression given by the defendant in interview.
• R v Nippers (2025): Prosecuted a trial of dwelling burglary and theft involving ex-partners. The case raised issues of law concerning matters of “belonging to another” and “dishonesty”.
• R v Jackson and Jackson (2024): Successfully prosecuted a trial for robbery at a Co-operative store involving two defendants.
• R v Moalin (2024): Successfully prosecuted a trial for possession of a bladed article in a public place.
• R v Hogg (2023): Prosecuted a committal for sentence for non-fatal suffocation following the Court of Appeal’s judgment in R v Cook [2023] EWCA Crim 452. Effectively used the principles in Cook on non-fatal strangulation and applied them to the offence of suffocation.
• R v Brennan (2023): Prosecuted an offence involving the possession of a mobile phone in prison. This required the use of numerous common law authorities to assist the Court in sentencing given the lack of definitive Sentencing Council Guidelines.
• R v Worthington (2023): Prosecuted a young defendant for seven different offences, including handling stolen goods, going equipped for burglary and dangerous driving. The case raised issues as to the legal principles relevant to sentencing young offenders who have reached adulthood.
• R v Ward (2023): Prosecuted four offences of causing unnecessary suffering to animals where the defendant attacked three horses with a knife and attempted to strangle a fourth. The case was covered on the BBC.

Mark has extensive experience prosecuting cases in the magistrates’ court. Mark has prosecuted in a broad range of courts, including trial, remand, GAP, NGAP, PCVL and PSR court. Mark has particular experience in prosecuting offences of violence, property offences, and road traffic matters including special reasons and mitigation cases.

Cases of Note:

• R v Boland (2023): Prosecuted a breach of restraining order and stalking trial involving a vulnerable complainant. Successfully admitted a single previous conviction as bad character and, following conviction, successfully submitted that the offences ought to be committed for sentence to the Crown Court.
• R v Brzozowski (2023): Prosecuted a defendant who suffered from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder for 11 offences across four dates, including offences of violence, dishonesty and damage to property.
• R v Hull (2023): Prosecuted a case of common assault at a football match, which included a large quantity of multi-media evidence. Successfully obtained a Football Banning Order following a contested hearing.
• R v Wilson (2023): Prosecuted two charges of assault by beating involving the novel issue of whether the splashback of red wine when being poured from the bottle could amount to the application of force for the purposes of assault by beating.
• R v Anderson (2023): Prosecuted assault of emergency worker and public order offences, and successfully applied for a five-year Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO). The case was covered on ITV.

• LLM in Legal Practice, Nottingham Trent University (2016)
• BPTC, Nottingham Trent University (2014)
• LLB (Hons), The University of Sheffield (2013)

Mark is also an Associate Fellow of Advance HE (formerly the Higher Education Academy) and is working towards the submission of his PhD, concerned with the use of force by householders in self-defence.

Textbooks:

• Mark Thomas, A Practical Guide to Probation Breaches and other Applications (Law Brief Publishing Ltd 2024)
• Claire McGourlay, Mark Thomas and Suzanne Gower, Evidence: Law and Context (6th edn, Routledge 2024)
• Mark Thomas and James J Ball, Revise SQE: Criminal Practice (2nd edn, Fink Publishing Ltd 2023)
• Mark Thomas (ed), Revise SQE: FLK1 Practice Assessment (Fink Publishing Ltd 2023)
• Mark Thomas (ed), Revise SQE: FLK2 Practice Assessment (Fink Publishing Ltd 2023)
• Mark Thomas, Criminal Law (3rd edn, Hall & Stott Publishing 2023)
• Mark Thomas (ed), Revise SQE: Ethics and Professional Conduct (Fink Publishing Ltd 2022)
• Mark Thomas and Samantha Pegg, Revise SQE: Criminal Law (Fink Publishing Ltd 2021)
• Mark Thomas and Claire McGourlay, English Legal Systems Concentrate (2nd edn, OUP 2020)

Peer-reviewed Journal Articles:

• Mark Thomas, ‘Defenceless Castles: The Use of Grossly Disproportionate Force for Householders in Light of the Decision in Collins’ (2016) 80(6) J Crim L 407

Peer-reviewed Case Notes:

• Mark Thomas and James J Ball, ‘Intentional Strangulation: The Proper Approach to Sentencing in the Absence of a Sentencing Guideline: R v Cook [2023] EWCA Crim 452’ (2023) 87(4) J Crim L 281.
• Mark Thomas and James J Ball, ‘Either-way until proven otherwise: Determining when shoplifting is “low value”: Candlish v Director of Public Prosecutions [2022] EWHC 842 (Admin); [2022] 2 Cr App R 21’ (2023) 87(1) J Crim L 65.
• James J Ball and Mark Thomas, ‘Opening the Door to Vindication: Reviewing the Evidential Bases for the “Householder Defence”: R v Magson [2022] EWCA Crim 1064’ (2022) 86(5) J Crim L 372.
• Mark Thomas and Samantha Pegg, ‘“Proper Medical Purpose”: Reviewing Consent and the Medical Exemption to Offences Against the Person: R v Paterson [2022] EWCA Crim 456’ (2022) 86(4) J Crim L 281.
• Mark Thomas and Samantha Pegg, ‘“Whatever its Circumstances”: Odd Behaviour and Sexual Touchings: R v Abdulahi [2022] EWCA Crim 412’ (2022) 86(3) J Crim L 216.
• Mark Thomas and James J Ball, ‘Morality and Command Delusions: Reviewing the Requirement of Wrongdoing in the M’Naghten Rules: R v Keal [2022] EWCA Crim 341, [2022] 4 WLR 41’ (2022) 86(2) J Crim L 130.
• Mark Thomas and James J Ball, ‘‘Snatch, Grab and Jury Speculation’: Reviewing the Use of Force in Robbery: R v Martins [2021] EWCA Crim 223’ (2021) 85(4) J Crim L 320.
• Mark Thomas, ‘A Question of Fact Not Intent: No Requirement to Prove that D Intended the Touching to Be Sexual for the Purposes of Sexual Assault: Attorney General’s Reference (No 1 of 2020) [2020] EWCA Crim 1665’ (2021) 85(3) J Crim L 240.
• Mark Thomas, ‘Loss of Self-Control: A Reminder of the Particularly High Threshold: R v Dawson [2021] EWCA Crim 40’ (2021) 85(2) J Crim L 161.
• Mark Thomas, ‘Breaking the Chain of Causation: Reasonable Foreseeability and the ‘Exact Form’ of a Subsequent Act: R v A [2020] EWCA Crim 407; [2020] 1 WLR 2320’ (2020) 84(6) J Crim L 626.
• Mark Thomas, ‘Clarifying the Applicable Test for Dishonesty and Modifying Stare Decisis, but Otherwise a Missed Opportunity: R v Barton; R v Booth [2020] EWCA Crim 575’ (2020) 84(4) J Crim L 385.
• Mark Thomas, ‘“Expert Shopping”: Appeals Adducing Fresh Evidence in Diminished Responsibility Cases: R v Foy [2020] EWCA Crim 270’ (2020) 84(3) J Crim L 249.
• Mark Thomas, ‘‘Temporality’: Clarifying the Extent to Which Self-Defence, Defence of Property and Prevention of Crime Operate: R v Williams [2020] EWCA Crim 193’ (2020) 84(2) J Crim L 176.
• Mark Thomas, ‘Atmosphere and Context: Use of Force in the Execution of Duty and Retaliatory Force: Pegram v DPP [2019] EWHC 2673 (Admin)’ (2020) 84(1) J Crim L 94.
• Mark Thomas and Samantha Pegg, ‘Deception and Qualifications: Revisiting the Ruling in R v Richardson? R v Melin [2019] EWCA Crim 557’ (2019) 83(4) J Crim L 298.
• Mark Thomas and Samantha Pegg, ‘“Possession” in the Digital Age: The Same Old Story Applied in the Modern Day: R v Cyprian Okoro (No. 3) [2018] EWCA Crim 1929; [2019] 1 Cr App R 2’ (2019) 83(3) J Crim L 175.
• Mark Thomas, ‘Householders and Self-defence: Understanding a Defendant’s Belief That the Victim Is a Trespasser: R v Cheeseman [2019] EWCA Crim 149’ (2019) 83(2) J Crim L 116.
• Mark Thomas, ‘”Reasonable Cause to Suspect”: In the Absence of Knowledge and Actual Suspicion: R v Lane and Letts (AB and CD) [2018] UKSC 36; [2018] 1 WLR 3647’ (2018) 82(6) J Crim L 423.
• Mark Thomas, ‘Infanticide and Pre-Existing Mental Conditions: Disentangling the Causal Factors Relevant to a Jury’s Deliberations: R v Tunstill [2018] EWCA Crim 1696’ (2018) 82(5) J Crim L 366.