Summary

Rebecca practices in crime, extradition and public law.
She has a particular interest in human rights as they affect the criminal law and has developed expertise in representing activists facing criminal charges arising from their protests. Most recently she represented one of eight protestors acquitted on a single count of conspiracy to commit criminal damage at a factory manufacturing arms components. Whilst the defendants accepted that they had caused £187,000 in damage, they relied upon the defence of lawful excuse and were acquitted by unanimous verdicts. In other cases, Rebecca has successfully resisted police applications for criminal ASBOs (representing seven climate change activists) and forced the withdrawal of criminal prosecutions following disclosure arguments.

Rebecca has extensive appellate experience, having recently been instructed as junior in a Bermudan appeal to the Privy Council. She has appeared before the Court of Appeal alone, in appeals against sentence and led, in appeals against conviction. One such example was the unreported case of R v Shakeen Clarke in which the defendant, who had been convicted of causing grievous bodily harm to his baby son, appealed his conviction on the grounds of new 'bio-mechanics' evidence.
Rebecca is an expert in extradition, having represented both requested persons and Judicial Authorities in innumerable contested hearings and appeals to the High Court. She is presently led by Alun Jones QC in Herdman & Ors v Greece , in which the defendants challenge extradition on the grounds of prison conditions incompatible with the Article 3 ECHR prohibition on inhumane and degrading treatment. Rebecca is also instructed (as junior alone) for a requested person sentenced to chemical castration in which it will be argued that his removal presents a 'real risk' of breaches of his Art 3 rights and Art 8 right to a private and family life. Whilst Rebecca has comprehensive experience of arguing points arising from the European Convention on Human Rights, she has also had considerable success in cases involving technical and procedural points (see for example Luczak v Circuit Court in Lodz, Poland (below)).

Rebecca co-authors monthly extradition updates for lawbriefupdate.com and in 2008 she lectured delegates from the Commonwealth Secretariat on the merits and difficulties of the European Arrest Warrant scheme. She frequently provides training to solicitors on an ad hoc basis. Rebecca's interest in extradition began when, in 2007, she undertook an 8 month secondment as in-house Counsel to the CPS extradition unit. In that capacity she advised foreign governments and managed the day-to-day conduct of complex and high-profile extradition requests. She has continued to be instructed by the CPS to prepare extradition requests on behalf of British prosecuting authorities with the purpose of securing fugitives' return.

Before coming to the bar Rebecca worked as an accredited mediator for a charity. She was responsible for victim-offender mediation for prisoners and young offenders as well as assisting in community and neighbourhood disputes.

Notable Cases

Extradition

Herdman v City of Westminster Magistrates' Court [2010] EWHC 1533 (Admin)
Considering the admissibility of fresh evidence and compatibility of Greek prison conditions with Art 3 ECHR

R (on the application of Berners) v City of Westminster Magistrates' Court [2010] EWHC 1010
Statutory appeal and judicial review addressing the consequences of adjectival breaches of the ECHR upon extradition

Sondy v Crown Prosecution Service [2010] EWHC 108
Appeal concerning the proper process to be followed when alleging negligence against previous representatives in order to argue new issues on appeal.

Lendvai v Hungary [2010] EWHC 3431
Case considering the possible Art 3 and Art 8 implications for a lesbian woman of Roma origin should she be extradited to Hungary.

Pieknyi v Hunedoara County Court, Romania [2009] EWHC 1056 Admin
Appeal concerning extraneous considerations (political motivation behind extradition) and human rights concerns (namely Art 2, right to life and Art 3, freedom from inhumane and degrading treatment).

Luczak v Circuit Court in Lodz, Poland [2009] EWHC 2753
Successfully represented Defendant in his appeal against extradition order on the grounds that the conduct did not represent an extradition offence. Defendant discharged.

Krompalcas v Prosecutor General's Office, Lithuania [2008] EWHC 1486 (Admin)
Appeal reviewing the authorities on passage of time.

Protest Cases

R v OS & Others
As led junior represented one of eight activists accused of conspiracy to commit criminal damage against a factory manufacturing arms components. Following a trial in which the Defendants relied upon the justifications of prevention of war crimes and damage to property in Gaza all eight were acquitted.

R v ES
Successful appeal against Magistrates' Court conviction for aggravated trespass. The allegation arose from a 'Carnival Against the Arms Trade' in Brighton, 2008 when the Defendant trespassed on the premises of a factory manufacturing components for military aircraft and weapons systems. On appeal it was successfully argued that 'blowing a whistle' on those premises could not be deemed an act intended to disrupt.

R v Carroll & Ors
Successfully resisted criminal ASBO against Plane Stupid climate-change protestors.

R v Taylor & Ors
Secured acquittal on aggravated trespass charge against protestor glued to gate of premises used to manufacture components for military applications.

R v Cloherty & Ors
Following lengthy and complex submissions on disclosure the Crown were ordered to provide Defendants with certain evidence. They refused to do so and instead offered no evidence.

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Crime

R v Gemmell (2008) EWCA

Successfully appealed Defendant's 12 month custodial sentence for first offence of handling stolen goods and theft. Term of imprisonment reduced to 4 months.

R v Angaman & Ors (2009) EWCA

Junior brief for Defence in a multi-handed, 10,000 page identity fraud case.

R v Shakeen Clarke (2009) EWCA

Instructed as lead junior in this appeal against the Defendant's conviction for causing grievous bodily harm to his baby son. The appeal relied upon fresh evidence regarding the 'bio-mechanics' of injury and involved significant medico-legal evidence as well as liaison with a number of expert witnesses.

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