Clerking team

Mark Heald
Mark Heald

Senior Clerk - Criminal and Regulatory

Andy Booth

Lead Criminal Clerk

Joe Murphy

Criminal and Regulatory Clerk

“Laura has an in-depth understanding of regulatory proceedings and the coronial process, particularly in relation to the representation of healthcare professionals and care homes. She is able to identify the key issues in a case quickly and succinctly and formulate robust and thought-provoking defences, while also being able to advise the client of these in a concise and clear way.”

Legal 500, 2024 (Inquests and Inquiries)

“Recommended expert.”

Legal 500, 2024 (Crime)

“Recommended Expert.”

Legal 500, 2024 (Professional Disciplinary Law)

Strengths: “Laura is tenacious in her preparation and she is good at putting the points across.”

“Laura is always very clear and confident; her arguments are clear and succinct.”

Chambers UK Bar, 2024

Laura Nash is a well-regarded barrister and assistant coroner with a broad practice in inquest law. She has notable strength in police and prison matters and health and safety issues. She represents the bereaved and various individuals whose actions are under scrutiny.

Laura is a regulatory barrister, with specific experience in professional discipline across a number of tribunals. She has a particular strength in police cases, both gross misconduct and criminal, and represents officers in a range of cases.

Laura started her career as a criminal practitioner, but following her appointment as an assistant coroner in 2017 she developed an inquest and regulatory practice. She mainly represents the interested parties at inquests including police officers, Health Trusts, medical professionals and care homes. From this experience she moved quickly into professional discipline and appears in cases brought by the GMC, NMC and police services nationally.

Laura also has a wealth of experience representing care homes and registered managers in Care Quality Commission matters, both civil and criminal. In 2021 she was appointed a First Tier Tribunal Judge and sits in the Health, Education and Social Care Chamber.

In recent years, Laura has become the go-to advocate to advise on cases with cross-jurisdictional implications, and will often advise individuals where there is the potential for coronial, disciplinary and criminal enforcement action across a single case. Given her knowledge and experience Laura has also been instructed by senior coroners in judicial review proceedings.

Building upon her experience at the Bar, in 2021 Laura was also appointed a Deputy District Judge (Magistrates Court).

Prior to coming to the Bar, Laura worked for Staffordshire Trading Standards and for the Council if Europe in their Moneyval Directorate, dealing with the assessment of money laundering and anti-terrorism provisions within Member States.

Professional discipline

Laura has been dealing with Care Quality Commission cases for several years and approaches cases tactically and practically. Laura regularly advises Providers and Registered Managers in civil enforcement action and has developed a particular interest in section 10 criminal offence allegations and whether registration is required. Laura also acts for care homes in criminal prosecutions, utilising her experience as a Deputy District Judge (Magistrates Court) in navigating the court process successfully.

In addition to her CQC practice, Laura frequently advises childminders who are subject to urgent enforcement action as well as nurseries subject to cancellation of their registration.

Prior to coming to the Bar, Laura worked for Staffordshire Trading Standards. Consequently, Laura is often instructed to act for individuals or businesses dealing with Local Authority enforcement and has experience of licencing, trading standards, food hygiene and abatement notice cases. Laura also has a background in fire safety cases.

As well as her judicial appointments, Laura was appointed a Specialist Regulatory Advocate for the Health and Safety and Environmental Law list, and has experience in both criminal and coroner’s courts of health and safety cases, often involving expert evidence.

Care Quality Commission

R v CT (Blackpool Magistrates Court)

Acted for the registered manager following two fatalities at the care home.

CQC v B2B

Advising an ultrasound company as to whether an offence contrary to section 10 had been committed.

SMT Ltd v CQC

Advising a direct to consumer aligner service as to whether registration was required.

CQC v Dr HW

Advising a GP whether registration was required to performing ear syringing services.

Local Authority Enforcement

London Borough of Waltham Forest v OTSH Ltd

Representing a school accused of contravening food hygiene standards resulting in a rat infestation.

Barnsley MBC v Timeless Inns Ltd 

Advising in respect of breaches of the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013 and whether unsafe food had been introduced into the market by the pub chain.

Trading Standards v S

Advising a national ticketing retailer in respect of possible infractions of online retail and unfair pricing practices.

LBTH v Lemongrass Foods Limited 

Advising a food production company on a criminal prosecution under the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013 following investigators discovering mice at the premises on three separate occasions.

Fire Safety

In the matter of RA (Sheffield Coroners Court)

Acting for a housing charity following the death of a resident in a fire who had recently been released from prison. Case involved possible causes of the fire as well as the charity’s obligations in respect of fire safety.

South Wales Fire & Rescue Service v Farrington Care Homes Ltd (Cardiff Magistrates Court)

Defending a care home against ten charges of fire safety breaches, including risks of death and serious injury.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service v Lumley (Crown Court at York)

Defending a retired builder in a case following a fatality of an employee living in a “granny annex”.

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service v Mannan (Manchester Magistrates’ Court)

Defending the owner of a local fast food restaurant, prosecuted for breaching GMFRS guidelines.

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service v Amilico (Stockport Magistrates’ Court) 

Prosecuting breaches of fire safety legislation at a warehouse in Stockport.

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service v B&M Quilting (Stockport Magistrates’ Court) 

Prosecuting breaches of fire safety legislation at a business premises in Stockport.

Professional Discipline

Laura represents a wide range of professionals in a number of different tribunals. She has extensive experience of police gross misconduct proceedings across a number of difference police services, and acting in a range of cases from sexual offences to fatalities. Laura’s experience in both the criminal and coronial courts means she is well placed to advise on the wider implications of an officer’s evidence, and approaches cases tactically.

Laura has also built upon her coronial practice and represents medical professionals at tribunal hearings. She is confident when dealing with expert medical evidence and paper-heavy cases. Laura also has experience advising medical professionals in appeals involving the NHS Performers Lists as well as potential CQC enforcement action.

Police

WYP v PC JB

Acted for an officer who had been charged with excess alcohol, following an overdose when she had left her house and driven to avoid her sons finding her body. Having successfully argued in the magistrates court against a change of charge which led to a dismissal of the case, Laura argued before the the Panel that the officer’s actions did not amount to gross misconduct as defined within the 2020 Regulations due to the state of her mental health. Despite the Appropriate Authority submitting the officer’s conduct amounted to gross misconduct and therefore dismissal was appropriate, the Panel accepted Laura’s submissions, finding the officer’s actions amounted to misconduct only, and imposed a written warning.

R v Hardy

Laura, led by Julia Smart KC, defended DC Stephen Hardy of Greater Manchester Police who was charged with raping and sexually assaulting a child. He was sentenced to 26 years in prison. This case was covered by Sky News, The Daily Mail and Manchester Evening News.

R v Fraser

Defended Justin Fraser, a married police officer, who used work computers 178 times to stalk and harass a junior colleague after she called off their affair. He used confidential police systems to check on the woman’s whereabouts and gather ‘evidence’ she was having an affair with another colleague. He was sentenced to 21 months for stalking, with a month to run concurrently for misuse of the police computer systems. This case received coverage in The Daily Mail and The Liverpool Echo.

Merseyside Police v PC Chloe Fitton

Defended a Merseyside police officer who turned a ‘blind eye’ towards partner, PC Brown’s, cocaine use. She was found guilty of gross misconduct for breaching standards around challenging and reporting improper conduct, honesty and integrity and discreditable conduct, and dismissed without notice. This case was covered by The Daily Mail, Manchester Evening News and The Liverpool Echo.

PC v Calum Power

Defended a former police officer who pawned his police issue phone and tablet. He was sentenced to 34 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 18 months. The case was covered on ITV News and Manchester Evening News.

Merseyside Police v PC DM

Acted for an officer accused of fabricating evidence for the purposes of a criminal prosecution. Despite an admission the officer avoided dismissal and receiving a final written warning.

Metropolitan Police Service v PC IG

Acted for an officer accused of failing to report her partner who had committed offences linked to an OCG.

Greater Manchester Police v PC TAW

Successfully represented one of seven officers accused of causing the death of a detainee from positional asphyxiation.

Metropolitan Police Service v PH

Representing a serving Police Sergeant convicted of assaulting an on-duty police officer. Despite having a conviction for violence on another officer submissions against dismissal without notice were successful and the officer received a Final Written Warning.

R v SL (Crown Court at Liverpool)

Defending a serving detective against one count of misconduct in public office where the officer had groomed four vulnerable women who were complainants or witnesses in cases, with the officer engaging in consensual sexual activity with one complainant. Following a guilty plea, the judge was convinced to take the unusual step of suspending the sentence. The case had extensive coverage in the media, including BBC NewsITV News, and The Guardian.

R v AS (Crown Court at Liverpool) 

Representing a police officer accused of dangerous driving. Prosecution accepted a plea to the lesser count following submissions to the Circuit Judge regarding deficiencies in the investigation.

R v L (Crown Court at Bradford)

Represented a serving police officer accused of raping a friend while off duty.

In the matter of EG (Sheffield Coroners Court)

Acting for a detective who was the officer in the case for an allegation of sexual assault and anal rape on a schoolgirl which was discontinued due to inconsistencies in her account. In the months after the decision the girl took her own life and cited the attitude of the police as one of the reasons.

Medical

NMC v RC & RT

Representing one of two midwives who were accused of failing to identify a serious deterioration in a new mother’s health following a home birth, delaying her transfer to hospital and resulting in her admission to the ITU. The registrant had admitted one minor charge of 12 alleged. Laura successfully applied to have two charges dismissed at half time, with only two of the remaining nine charges being proved. Following further submissions there was no impairment found.

GMC v Dr AK

Representing a general practitioner accused of dishonesty when completing paperwork to be sent to NHS England.

In the matter of JW (Chesterfield Coroners Court)

Acting for a GP who advised care home staff to contact paramedics rather than attending at the home to conduct her own assessment.

In the matter of SC (Stockport Coroners Court)

Acting for a GP who conducted a review of the deceased in the days before he died. Issue at the inquest was whether the GP should have arranged for the deceased’s admission to hospital following a deterioration in his health. The coroner found that the assessment was appropriate and no admission was necessary.

TEC v NHS England 

Advising an optician on reinstatement to the NHS England’s Performers List and repercussions of practising whilst removed from the list from a contractual perspective.

Dr B v NHS England 

Advising a practising dentist as to an appeal against the imposition of conditions on his continued inclusion on the Performers List for Dentists with NHS England.

Inquests & coronial

Laura is primarily instructed in complex jury cases, due to her years at the criminal bar and as an assistant coroner. In recent years her practice has focused on acting for professionals and Laura has a wealth of experience representing police officers in inquests following fatalities on duty. Many of Laura’s cases have been reported nationally.

Featured Cases

In the Matter of David James Molloy (Manchester West Coroner’s Court)

Successfully represented the interest of an officer from Greater Manchester Police in connection with the death of David Molloy in custody. This case received coverage on Manchester Evening News and Bolton News.

In the Matter of BM

Acted for the family of Brendan McFarlane who died less than 24 hours after being admitted to The Harbour mental health hospital in Blackpool on 25 October 2022. The jury concluded that “on the balance of probabilities, the care delivery more than minimally contributed to Bren’s death”. More information on the case can be found here. The case also received press coverage on BBC News, ITV News, The Mirror and The Daily Mail.

In the Matter of HL (Inner London South Coroners Court)

Acted for the family of the deceased who was a Chinese National and who was murdered by her ex partner. Successfully argued that an invasive post mortem was not necessary in the circumstances due to the deceased’s religious and cultural beliefs.

In the Matter of CM (Northallerton Coroner’s Court)

Acted for the housemaster of a Catholic boarding school which had suspended a student following his arrest for serious criminal offences. CM killed himself the day after his release from custody. Case received extensive press coverage, including in The Telegraph and The Times.

In the Matter of AM (Manchester Coroner’s Court)

Acted for Manchester Airport Group following the death of a passenger on an Emirates flight. MAG’s first responder firefighters’ response was described by the coroner as “textbook” and there was no criticism of the Airport. The case received coverage in the Manchester Evening News.

In the Matter of AN (Manchester Coroner’s Court)

Acted for the brother of the deceased who was an interested party, having admitted that he had supplied his brother drugs shortly before his death, when he fell from the roof of a central Manchester hotel where he worked. Press coverage can be found here.

In the Matter of CN (Essex Coroners Court)

Acted for a supported living accommodation in a three week inquest, where a young man from the accommodation with learning disabilities and significant mental health concerns when he jumped from a bridge and died.

Health & safety

HSE v Melba Products Ltd (Manchester Magistrates Court)

Acting for the company in a HSE prosecution following the loss of a finger by an employee who placed his hand into operational machinery. Despite a history of poor compliance with the regulator the company received a reduced fine to reflect the changes that had been implemented following the incident.

HSE v IH (Crown Court at Manchester Minshull St)

Prosecuted a builder who was guilty of the Work at Height Regulations as well as the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 as the person who was in control of a building site and who had been issued two Prohibition Notices for failing to take suitable and sufficient measures to prevent falls from height during roof work.

HSE v DAL Ltd (Manchester City Magistrates’ Court)

Acting for a metal fabrication company in a prosecution under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 following an employee losing a finger while operating unguarded machinery and wearing gloves.

HSE v R&B 

Advising an engineering company following receipt of Prohibition Notice.

In the Matter of RW (Wakefield Coroner’s Court)

Acting for a lifeguard following the drowning of a three-year old boy in a pool at a national health club. The case was covered by the Daily MailITV and the BBC as well as extensive local news coverage,.

In the Matter of RQ (Cumbria Coroner’s Court)

Acting for a driver following the detachment of a trailer from a work van, involving extensive engineering expert evidence. No criticisms were found of the driver at the conclusion of the seven-day inquest.

In the Matter of DW (Manchester Coroner’s Court) 

Represented the family of a man who died after the bin he was sleeping in was emptied into a waste collection lorry. The case was covered by the Manchester Evening NewsDaily MirrorDaily MailThe Sun and Daily Star.

In the Matter of JPB (Liverpool Coroner’s Court) 

Representing the security and cleaning services at a shopping centre following the death of a homeless man who had fallen asleep in a skip used by the centre.

In the Matter of JL (Stafford Coroner’s Court) 

HSE inquest acting on behalf of the family, following a cattle-related death of an employee on a dairy farm.

In the Matter of CCT (Preston Coroner’s Court) 

Seven-day inquest into the death of a customer at liveried stables and riding school, which involved complex legal argument relating to privilege against self-incrimination. Instructed on behalf of the Local Authority.

HSE v Arrow Flexible Packaging (Trafford Magistrates’ Court)

Defending the owners of a factory where worker lost a finger whilst operating machinery.

Licensing

Prior to coming to the Bar, Laura worked for Staffordshire Trading Standards. Consequently, Laura is often instructed to act for individuals or businesses dealing with Local Authority enforcement and has experience of licencing, trading standards, food hygiene and abatement notice cases. Laura also has a background in fire safety cases.

As well as her judicial appointments, Laura was appointed a Specialist Regulatory Advocate for the Health and Safety and Environmental Law list, and has experience in both criminal and coroner’s courts of health and safety cases, often involving expert evidence.

Trading standards & consumer

Prior to coming to the Bar, Laura worked for Staffordshire Trading Standards. Consequently, Laura is often instructed to act for individuals or businesses dealing with Local Authority enforcement and has experience of licencing, trading standards, food hygiene and abatement notice cases. Laura also has a background in fire safety cases.

As well as her judicial appointments, Laura was appointed a Specialist Regulatory Advocate for the Health and Safety and Environmental Law list, and has experience in both criminal and coroner’s courts of health and safety cases, often involving expert evidence.

Environmental

As well as her judicial appointments, Laura was appointed a Specialist Regulatory Advocate for the Health and Safety and Environmental Law list, and has experience in both criminal and coroner’s courts of health and safety cases, often involving expert evidence.

Appointments

  • Deputy District Judge (Magistrates’ Courts)
  • Fee-Paid First-Tier Tribunal Judge (Health, Education and Social Care) (Mental Health)
  • Assistant Coroner – Lancashire
  • Specialist Regulatory Advocate in Health and Safety and Environmental Law – List C
  • Trained Reviewer for the Bar Pro Bono Charity Advocate

Memberships

  • INQUEST
  • Northern Circuit
  • South Eastern Circuit
  • Association of Regulatory and Disciplinary Lawyers.

Client testimonials

“I have recently instructed Ms Nash in two particularly sensitive cases with press interest. Ms Nash is an excellent communicator, she routinely responds quickly to queries and commits to finding clarity in even the most novel of cases. Her written submissions are clear, concise and persuasive and she is extremely professional and fluent in both conference and at Court. I would not hesitate to recommend Ms Nash in Inquest and Health & Safety cases.” – Instructing Solicitor

“Laura is a conscientious, professional and knowledgeable barrister in both regulatory and coronial law. She is well-liked by all clients for her clear advice and sensible approach. For those instructing her, Laura is a consistently reliable Counsel and someone you know will have a positive impact throughout the case, to get the best outcome for clients.” – Instructing Solicitor

“A rare combination of diligence and fighting spirit, Laura is consistently well prepared on cases and has an exceptional presence of mind which ensures she is continually at the front line of litigation. Determined and dedicated counsel on whom one can rely and trust to excel in a case.” – Instructing Solicitor

“Laura is particularly skilled in the arena of inquests and Coronial law. Sitting as an Assistant Coroner herself, Laura takes personal pride in the accuracy of proceedings and the fairness of representation making her an invaluable asset to any legal team attending an inquest.” – Instructing Solicitor