Nick Robinson BW scaled e1741277627459

Nick Robinson

Year of Call: 2006
Email Address: [email protected]
CJSM: [email protected]
Telephone: 01202 292 102

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Clerk Details

  • Clerk Name: Stuart Pringle
  • Clerk Telephone: 0330 332 2633
  • Clerk Email: [email protected]

Drugs Offences

Nick is regularly instructed in the most serious drug cases, from county lines conspiracies to multi-tonne international importations prosecuted by the NCA and SEROCU. His practice encompasses covert surveillance operations, EncroChat prosecutions, cross-border investigations, modern slavery defences, and multi-defendant conspiracies requiring meticulous analysis of voluminous material. He has a proven record of exposing disclosure failings and prosecutorial misconduct — and of drafting defence statements so effective that prosecutions have collapsed before trial.

Selected Cases

R v RH — (2025) Multi-defendant drug conspiracy (Class A and B). The defendant was extradited from South Africa after 12 years abroad, with co-defendants already convicted and serving up to 10 years. Nick identified that the police had misrepresented the charges to the South African courts. Following service of defence statement the prosecution offered no evidence on the Class A cocaine conspiracy. Bail obtained against strong prosecution objection. Agreed basis of plea limited the defendant’s role on the Class B count to a single day; following a Goodyear indication, a suspended sentence was imposed.

R v AD and Others — (2024) Conspiracy to supply Class A drugs — the defendant was alleged to be the head of an OCG operating between London and the south coast. He denied involvement and contended he had been set up by informants; the alleged "kingpin phone" had been planted in his car. Eighteen-month covert surveillance operation; cell site and radio frequency evidence; expert DNA evidence on drugs and a cocaine press; telephone schedules; police intelligence. DNA evidence excluded pre-trial. Cross-examination of over a dozen covert surveillance officers exposed disclosure failings; section 8 disclosure applications and a PII application mid-trial. Jury discharged on day 11. Abuse of process argument followed. Prosecution offered no evidence after a case review; formal not guilty verdicts by judicial direction. Nick led David Jenkins of 3PB Barristers.

R v CL — Oxford Crown Court (2023) Possession with intent to supply 1kg of high-purity cocaine (estimated street value exceeding £100,000) and acquiring criminal property. Scottish and Oxfordshire officers stopped the defendant's Mercedes travelling from Hamilton, Scotland to Bournemouth; the cocaine was concealed in a stage light stored among his equipment as a singer and magician. The defendant maintained he had agreed to transport something he suspected was contraband cigarettes for an acquaintance and knew nothing about the drugs. Good character evidence called from a church minister and former Scottish Football Association referee; full good character direction secured; adverse inference from partial no-comment interview successfully resisted. Unanimous not guilty verdict after approximately seven hours' deliberation; costs awarded. Reported: Oxford Mail, Telegraph and Scottish Sun.

R v EA — (2023) Possession with intent to supply cannabis and four counts of possessing offensive weapons (baseball bats). Drugs and weapons found in the boot of a vehicle. Modern slavery defence on the drugs count. Successful application to adduce bad character evidence of the defendant's handler — a drug dealer and member of an organised crime group — including evidence of threats and violence against the defendant and his parents. Unanimous not guilty on two weapons counts; non-custodial sentence on the remaining two. Hung jury on the drugs charge; the judge observed no realistic prospect of conviction. Prosecution offered no evidence on retrial. Acquitted.

R v RG and Others — Harrow Crown Court (2023) Conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (56kg cocaine). Defendants were Albanian nationals. Nick acted for the principal defendant. Following consideration of extensive disclosure, the defendant pleaded guilty on a basis, and was sentenced to nine years' imprisonment — significantly below the prescribed starting point in excess of twenty years for quantities far exceeding the Category 1 threshold of 5kg. The Solicitor General referred the sentence as unduly lenient. Nick's submissions in the Court of Appeal limited the increase to just four-and-a-half years (total thirteen-and-a-half years). Reported: [2023] EWCA Crim 1634.

R v ED and Others (Operation Whale) —Southampton Crown Court (2023) Conspiracy to import 2.1 tonnes of cocaine (estimated street value £180 million) into Southampton docks — Operation Whale, a joint investigation by SEROCU and the NCA. Police intercepted the motor vessel KAHU in international waters after it had travelled from the Caribbean. The defendant was captain of a motor yacht, Bubble E, intercepted and found to contain hides; the prosecution case was that the defendant and two co-accused were to collect the cocaine offshore. Extensive disclosure spanning Ecuador, St Petersburg, Dubai, and the Caribbean. The prosecution sought a sentence in excess of 20 years; 15 years' imprisonment secured. Reported: Portsmouth News, Hertfordshire Mercury, Southern Daily Echo, Yahoo, Surrey Live.

R v WT — (2022) Five counts of concerned in supply of heroin, crack cocaine, cannabis, and cocaine. Drug-dealing messages attributable to another person; no forensic link to a weapon. Crown offered no evidence on four counts; suspended sentence on the lesser remaining count.

R v WG — (2018–19) Seven counts including Supply of Class A (0.5kg cocaine) and Class B (1kg cannabis) drugs, and Possessing Criminal Property (£8,500 cash). Over 127,000 pages of prosecution evidence including raw phone data across four discs. Meticulous preparatory work with the client and a comprehensive defence case statement identified eighteen grounds for suspecting that the co-defendant and an uncharged third party — at whose address and vehicle the cocaine and cannabis were seized — had conspired with police to implicate the defendant, including that the officer in the case had been observed in private conversation with the co-defendant outside court. Disclosure requests forced the Crown to serve the raw telephone data as evidence. Following service of the defence statement, the prosecution offered no evidence on all counts. Not guilty by judicial direction.

R v MHS and Others — (2018) Conspiracy to blackmail arising from an eleven-defendant organized crime group (Operation Firebug). Co-defendant pleaded guilty. Defendant allegedly committed offence immediately following his release from prison following an unrelated Blackmail conviction. Cross-examination of the protected complainant — himself a large-scale drug dealer never prosecuted — established fundamental contradictions in his account. Unanimous not guilty verdict after seven days.

R v DL — (2017) Conspiracy to supply 10kg of heroin and money laundering. Following legal argument the Crown accepted pleas to lesser offences and the defendant received a community order.

R v LT — (2016) Possession of cannabis. Novel defence of lawful possession (s.7(1) MDA 1971) — bar manager conveying a patron’s cannabis to police. Unanimous not guilty; costs awarded.

R v KS — (2015) Importation of a controlled drug — 2kg of pure opium concealed in a hollowed-out compartment within a chessboard, intercepted by Border Force at Heathrow en route from Istanbul to the defendant's business premises. NCA investigation. The prosecution relied upon a similar chessboard found at the defendant's home and postal and flight records demonstrating strong links to Istanbul. The issue was whether the defendant was responsible for the package and its contents. Acquitted after trial.

R v NN — (2014) Possession with intent to supply. Prosecution alleged that the defendant threw away 71 wraps of heroin and cocaine when he was approached by two police officers for a stop and search. Defendant denied this and said that the drugs were nothing to do with him and he had been “set up” by the police. Unanimous not guilty.

R v TA — (2013) Possession with Intent to Supply a Class A drug. Defendant was searched as he entered a nightclub to celebrate New Year's Eve. A small bag containing 40 Ecstasy tablets was found tied to the drawstring of his trousers seemingly concealed between his legs. His defence at trial was that they were nothing to do with him and in a rush he had put on trousers belonging to someone else and he was unaware that the drugs were concealed within the clothing. Acquitted.

R v AT — (2013) Six-handed conspiracy to import cocaine — Operation Fabula. A three-year covert joint investigation by Devon and Cornwall Police, Dorset Police, and HMRC. Customs officers at Portsmouth seized 10kg of cocaine from a car arriving from Bilbao, Spain, concealed in fuel tanks. The 14-week trial at Bournemouth Crown Court was reportedly the first to feature an extradition of a co-defendant from Brazil. Reported: BBC News.

  • Recommendations

    • Chambers & Partners Rankings (2019–2026)
      Chambers UK 2026 / Crime — Western Bar > “Nicholas is a dynamic barrister. He is calm, sympathetic and gives a huge amount of effort to every case. He is a strong and persuasive advocate with an eye for persuasive arguments.”

      Chambers UK 2025 / Crime — Western Bar > “He has a great practice.” > “He is a smooth advocate who has a great way of speaking to the jury.”

      Chambers UK 2024 / Crime — Western Bar > “He is highly effective and highly skilled in all aspects of criminal defence work.” > “Clients love Nicholas. He’s a very good lawyer and a persuasive advocate.” > “Nicholas handled the cross-examination deftly but devastatingly. His ability to juggle disclosure requests, client management and legal arguments is remarkable.”

      Chambers UK 2023 / Crime — Western Bar > “He has a very client-centred approach.” > “His advocacy skills are impressive.” > “Nick is an industrious individual.”

      Chambers UK 2022 / Crime — Western Bar > “Has a very positive attitude and his written work is excellent.” > “He has an approach and flair which juries like.”

      Chambers UK 2021 / Crime — Western Bar > “He has a very good reputation and his written work is of the highest quality.”

      Chambers UK 2020 / Crime — Western Bar > “He is both responsive and proactive, and his advocacy skills are fantastic.”

      Chambers UK 2019 / Crime — Western Bar > “He is both responsive and proactive, and his advocacy skills are fantastic.”

    • Legal 500 Rankings (2011–2026)
      Legal 500 2026 / Crime — Western Circuit > “Nick is a good barrister. He is always well-prepared and will fight his corner as required.”

      Legal 500 2025 / Crime — Western Circuit > “Nick is a committed, highly competent and effective criminal barrister. He is an effective trial advocate who gets good results, and his pleas in mitigation are always carefully constructed with great preparation.”

      Legal 500 2024 / Crime — Western Circuit > “Nick is diligent and always enthusiastic about his work. His written work is of the highest quality. He is also a very persuasive and effective advocate.”

      Legal 500 2023 / Crime — Western Circuit > “Nick is a top level operator. A first-class and fearless advocate with a very robust and incisive approach to criminal litigation. An exceptional strategist.”

      Legal 500 2022 / Crime — Western Circuit > “Nick’s strengths are his intelligence, his ability to fully engage with a jury and his thorough preparation.”

      Legal 500 2020–21 / Crime — Western Circuit > “A criminal defence specialist.”

      Legal 500 2018–19 / Crime — Western Circuit — Tier 1 > “An expert in defending in serious crime cases.”

      Legal 500 2017 / Crime — Western Circuit > “Self-assured and dedicated.”

      Legal 500 2016 / Crime — Western Circuit > “Extremely diligent in his approach to cases.”

      Legal 500 2015 / Crime — Western Circuit > “Known for his defence work in the Crown Court, and his practice has an emphasis on serious crime.”

      Legal 500 2014 / Crime — Western Circuit > “He specialises in sexual offence cases, particularly those involving children and historical allegations of misconduct.”

      Legal 500 2013 / Crime — Western Circuit > “A very confident and knowledgeable advocate.”

      Nick was also recommended by the Legal 500 for 2011 and 2012.

    • Judicial Commendations
      Court of Appeal

      R v Hitchings [2024] EWCA Crim 1003 — Stuart-Smith LJ, Stacey J, HHJ Conrad KC: “The Court is grateful to Mr Robinson… for the high quality of his written submissions.”

      R v Sherriff [2012] EWCA Crim 2381 — Lord Justice Aikens: “Mr Robinson presented the arguments very concisely, clearly and persuasively.”

      R v Kluver [2010] EWCA Crim 3237 — Lord Justice Moses: “There is ample authority for the proposition that counsel for the defence has so skilfully identified both in his written grounds and in his oral submissions and we are indebted to Mr Robinson for them.”

      R v Bennett [2010] EWCA Crim 1032 — Mr Justice Davis: “Mr Robinson, on behalf of the Appellant, has put the case very well.”

      R v Woodcock [2011] EWCA Crim 1347 — Mr Justice Blair: “It is submitted by Mr Robinson, who has argued this case well for the applicant, that this is excessive.”

      R v Knight [2013] EWCA Crim 2486 — Fulford J: > “detailed and able”

      Crown Court

      Mr Recorder Don Tait, following the acquittal of his client (R v RC — Crown Court, 2016), in open court: “Mr Robinson you did an excellent job defending this man. You very skillfully revealed all of the inadequacies in this investigation”.

    • Instructing Solicitor Testimonials
      “Truly grateful for your proactive case management, first class professionalism and dedication.”

      “This was a difficult case in one sense and your efforts and assistance went beyond the call of duty. I very much appreciate it.”

      “Please accept my heartfelt thanks and appreciation for all your incredible and excellent hard work on this firm’s cases and for always doing over and above what is required in every matter that you deal with. Not only that, well done on all of your outstanding results and faultless client care!”

      “Thank you Nick, I am very grateful for your assistance. Your professionalism and support is unbelievable.”

      “Fine work. Very fine work indeed. That was mission impossible. I am genuinely very impressed with that result.”

    • Lay Client (defendant’s father)

      "I had the pleasure of watching Nick during the trial and cannot praise sufficiently the way he handled the case. He was the perfect professional and we all felt our case couldn't have been in better or more capable hands. As the day progressed it looked increasingly certain that a custodial sentence would follow, and the judge intimated as much. However, Nick's response was totally stunning. He spoke calmly, quietly, slowly but with an air of total credibility — and when the judge interjected, he gently responded with additional information. He retained sufficient material to respond to each of the judge's concerns. If it had been a dramatic performance there would have been applause at the end. He is a real credit to his profession."

      Lay Client

      "I write to you to express my sincere gratitude about a member of your Chambers Mr Robinson who defended me at trial … The case required complete concentration and an eye for detail. This worried me as being on legal aid I thought I might not receive the same service as a client paying privately. This wasn’t the case at all and in fact the complete opposite. Mr Robinson genuinely cared about his client and even spent time to reassure my co-defendant … During the trial Mr Robinson’s charisma was a breath of fresh air; he kept the Jury on their toes and concentrated throughout and also he was very calming during the breaks when tensions were high. Finally Mr Robinson’s closing speech was mesmerising and got across every possible point I could think of and more. I knew after his speech there was no way I would be convicted. I feel in debt to this man and feel that the literature in my email doesn’t allow me to explain my true gratitude."

      Lay Client

      “Just wanted to express my thanks, for the confident, reassuring and supportive way that Mr Robinson has handled my case. At short notice he has been able to defend me to his confident best.  His caring and clear way in which he dealt with me and my family and friends was top notch”.

      Lay Client (Direct Access)

      "Nick - I'm eternally indebted to you and will never be able to thank you enough for today's outcome … thank you from the bottom of my heart for all you have done for me. You've given me my life back”.

      Lay client’s grandparent

      "I would also like to say a specific thank you for bringing Nicholas Robinson in as L's barrister. L felt very comfortable talking to Nick, and Nick, in turn, put L at ease. The relationship barristers have with their client, the trust and confidence in the barrister's ability is paramount, and we certainly had that with Nick. I think it also proved that a barristers relationship with his counterparts on the other side is also important and in our case this definitely proved to be significant”.

      Lay Client (defendant’s mother)

      “Your preparation was meticulous, your manner was calm under pressure, and your advocacy was outstanding… You also showed such patience and understanding with [our son]. He has a lot of difficulty, and you never let that become an obstacle. You took the time to explain things clearly to him and treated him with real respect, which meant the world to us as a family.”

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