Oliver Hirsch

Oliver Hirsch

Year of Call: 2020
Email Address: [email protected]
CJSM: [email protected]
Telephone: 01962 868 884

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Clerk Details

  • Clerk Name: Stuart Pringle
  • Clerk Telephone: 07962 868 884
  • Clerk Email: [email protected]

Overview

Oliver Hirsch is a criminal barrister based at 3PB’s Winchester office. He conducts work for both defence and prosecution.

As defence counsel, Oliver has secured acquittals in cases involving allegations of sexual offences, serious violence, drug supply, and a range of other matters. He has been instructed as junior counsel in cases involving historic child sex offences and county lines drug trafficking. He has appeared in the High Court and the Court of Appeal.

Oliver has been appointed to Level 2 of the CPS General Crime Advocate Panel and the CPS RASSO panel. He is regularly instructed to prosecute serious sexual offences and a broad range of other cases.

Oliver's caseload extends beyond general crime to encompass regulatory matters. This has included the successful defence of an e-bike retailer from prosecution by the DVSA.

Expertise

  • Crime and Regulatory Crime
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    Criminal Prosecution

    As a grade 2 prosecutor and member of the RASSO panel, Oliver is regularly briefed to conduct trials on behalf of the CPS. His cases to date have included the following.

    R v E: defendant charged with controlling/coercive behaviour after his partner took her own life. The Crown sought to prove its case using hearsay evidence of what she had told others before her death. After successfully resisting a defence application to exclude the hearsay, the prosecution accepted guilty pleas.

    R v C&D: two defendants charged with kidnapping a teenage boy from the street and assaulting him repeatedly over the course of several hours. Both defendants convicted.

    R v P: defendant convicted of attempted robbery, having attacked a man in the street for his car keys.

    R v K: defendant charged with sexual assaults against his teenage stepdaughter.

    R v S: defendant charged with serious sexual and domestic offences against two different partners.

    R v D: historic sexual offences against a child.

    R v N: domestic abuse allegations including assault by penetration, false imprisonment and strangulation.

    R v S: sexual offence committed against 9-year-old nephew.

    Criminal Defence

    Oliver has acted on behalf of many clients in the Crown Court. A few of his cases are itemised below.

    R v G: acquittal on a charge of assault by penetration. The defendant was also acquitted of other serious offences involving the same complainant.

    R v S: possession of Class A with intent to supply. The defendant had already pleaded guilty to supply of cannabis, but was acquitted after trial of supplying cocaine.

    R v E: acted as junior counsel in a multi-week trial of historic child sexual abuse allegations.

    R v S: defendant acquitted of sexual assault. The defendant had drunk so much that he was unable to remember the events of the alleged incident, but was acquitted after discrepancies in the prosecution case were highlighted.

    R v E: defendant acquitted of controlling or coercive behaviour.

    R v A: junior defence counsel in a multi-handed conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

    R v M: represented defendant in the Court of Appeal, having his sentence reduced by one third.

    R v K: ABH, client acquitted of allegation that he assaulted his neighbour. He had argued self-defence.

    R v S: sole defence counsel in trading standards case involving allegation of fraudulent trading.

    Proceeds of Crime

    R v A: Oliver persuaded the prosecution to settle, after making a novel argument that the defendant’s current account balance was in fact held on trust for his bank. The client paid £16,000 less than the prosecution had been pursuing.

    R v C: Oliver negotiated the amount sought by the prosecution down from £15,000 to £3,500.

    Regulatory

    Oliver acts in all areas of regulatory law. His most recent experience includes taxi licence appeals and a private prosecution under the electric pedal cycle regulations.

  • Articles

    • When are police officers entitled to use force?

      22nd May 2024

      Oliver Hirsch examines when defendants' claims of unlawful use of force by police officers can be substantiated, with due regard to the powers available to police officers in s.117 PACE 1984, and the rights to use reasonable force available to all citizens.

      View Article

    • Abuse of process in modern slavery

      11th Oct 2023

      Oliver Hirsch analyses the case of R v AFU [2023] EWCA Crim 23, a case in which the Court of Appeal reviews the authorities on abuse of process applications in trafficking and modern slavery cases.

      The Court confirms that the police must take proactive steps to investigate a suspect’s trafficking or slavery status, and in particular consider making an NRM referral.

      View Article

    • Excalibur & Keswick Groundworks Ltd v McDonald

      29th Mar 2023

      Oliver Hirsch considers the case of Excalibur & Keswick Groundworks Ltd v McDonald [2023] EWCA Civ 18, in which the Court of Appeal has confirmed the difficulty of removing QOCS protection from a claimant who discontinues at the last moment. This follows previous decisions in the same spirit, such as Mabb v English [2017] EWHC 3616 (QB).

      View Article

    • Does an employer who fails to make reasonable adjustments to its dismissal procedure act unreasonably for the purposes of unfair dismissal?

      1st Jun 2022

      Oliver Hirsch analyses Knightly v Chelsea & Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust [2022] EAT 63, a case in which practitioners are reminded to be careful about drawing links between a claimant's unfair dismissal and discrimination claims.

      View Article
  • Recommendations

    “Totally on top of his brief, good manner with witnesses and jury, careful and not even vaguely prolix... a not guilty verdict against a lot of evidence, in part because he focused on just the right narrow issue.” - Circuit Judge

    “I was struck by his presence. He spoke well and confidently.” - Circuit Judge

    “Your expertise has not only led us to this successful result but has also provided a sense of support and confidence during the times when the situation seemed most daunting. Your ability to navigate through the complexities of this case has been nothing short of remarkable.” - Client

    Client: “Thank you for the fantastic job you did of standing up for me in court. I had never been in that situation or setting before and I’m sure it was obvious to you and everyone else that I was very nervous. I found you to be professional and I thought you brought the points of my case across very well, which I’m sure is what led to a great result.” - Client

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