Clerking team

Tim Booth
Tim Booth

Senior Clerk Sheffield

Jack Paxton

Criminal Clerk

Jessica Bull

Junior Criminal Clerk

Matthew specialises in Criminal Law.

Matthew initially qualified as a Solicitor in 2005 and went on to practice in Criminal Law. In 2009 he was made a Partner and Head of the Criminal Department at one of South Yorkshire’s oldest firms. He was called to the Bar by the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn in 2016.

Crown Court & appeals

Matthew’s criminal practice comprises both defence and prosecution work in the Magistrates’ Court, Crown Court and Court of Appeal.

Notable Cases

R v JW (2023): Defended a drug dealer who pleaded guilty  to possessing cocaine with intent to supply and was sentenced to 27 months’ imprisonment. The case was covered in the Sheffield Star.

R v AY (2023): Prosecuted a man who was charged with breaching his Sexual Harm Prevention Order. The defendant pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 14 months’ imprisonment and an additional five-year SHPO. The case was covered in the Sheffield Star.

R v M (2022) Secured acquittal of a man who was charged with assisting an offender. The principal defendant was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. The case was covered in the Sheffield Star.

R v R (2018): Prosecuting an allegation of Forgery of a Will. Secured a conviction against both defendants after trial in a case which involved expert handwriting evidence.

R v K (2018): Defending an allegation of S.18 Grievous Bodily Harm. The client was acquitted after trial in a case which involved challenges to identification evidence and the police investigation.

R v H (2017): Defending one of 11 Defendants in an 11 handed conspiracy to steal case. The client was acquitted at trial following a successful submission of no case to answer at the close of the prosecution case.

R v G (2017): Defending allegations of rape and associated offences. The client was acquitted of the rape allegation.

R v J (2017): Defending in a case of ‘stranger rape’. The case involved technical challenges to DNA evidence linking the Defendant to the offence.

R v D (2017): Defended a mother accused of inciting sexual activity against her four-year-old child in an eight-day trial at Sheffield Crown Court.

R v C (2017): Achieved an acquittal in an allegation of knife point robbery at Grimsby Crown Court. Successfully argued that the case against the Defendant should not proceed beyond the halfway stage in an identification case where proper identification procedures had not been followed by the police.

R v S (2016): Successfully argued that a sentence of six years for a prolific dwelling house burglar was manifestly excessive. Appeal allowed and sentence reduced to five years.