R v Ashley Harris
Paul Smith was junior defence counsel in a murder trial at Stafford Crown Court. Ashley Harris was found not guilty of murder and manslaughter...
Senior Clerk Chester
Joint Lead Criminal Clerk
Joint Lead Criminal Clerk
Junior Criminal Clerk
Paul specialises in defending serious crime and is keen to continue developing his practice in that direction. His priority is to be readily accessible to his instructing solicitors and empathetic to defendants. He has particular experience, both before and since coming to the bar, of clients with mental health problems and learning difficulties.
Over the last 12 months Paul’s caseload has included murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, rape, historic sexual offences, firearms offences, counterfeiting, large drug conspiracies, money laundering, fraud and death by dangerous driving.
Paul regularly appears in the Court of Appeal and has successfully appealed against sentence and conviction (an example this year is R v Karl Gardner, inconsistent verdicts / fairness), and has successfully resisted prosecution appeals (CPS v Pearce).
R v Harris: Junior defence counsel in a murder trial at Stafford County Court.Ashley Harris was found not guilty of murder and manslaughter after a two-week trial. Mr Harris had been involved in an incident with the murdered man, Anthony Wootton, the night before Mr Wootton’s body was found in a carpark.
R v Jervois: Murder (led case): killing and mutilation of a young mother.
R v Evans: Death by careless driving – acquittal of mother where the deceased was her young disabled son. The case received national publicity and led to a review of the CPS’ ‘nearest and dearest’ policy.
R v Hussain: Rape – acquittal of a man charged as part of one of the well-publicised grooming gangs.
R v Boyce: Cocaine importation – acquittal of ‘mule’ caught with over £400,000 of cocaine.
R v Dorr: Premiership referee accused of sexual offences involving teenage boys.
R v Hewlett: Historic and recent rape of three complainants.
R v L: Abduction and rape of a 10 year old girl by a 14 year old boy.
R v Opoku: Stranger rape.
R v Priest: Attempted murder of a mother by her severely mentally ill daughter.
R v Watton: Attempted murder of a man who made a pass at the female defendant.
R v Bradley: Murder (led case) where a man was kicked to death in a random attack.
R v Smallman: Manslaughter – acquittal of man accused of supplying and administering heroin to a person who subsequently died.
Defended in several large-scale operations in the Midlands, and North Wales including Yom, and Sift
R v Glindon: Counterfeiting – Acquittal of man previously dubbed by the Daily Mail ‘Britain’s biggest counterfeiter’.
R v Maitland: Armed robbery – Acquittal of man accused of being part of a gang entering a house with imitation firearms.
R v Crowe: Firearms – severely mentally ill man involved in a standoff with the police.