Largest and most prolific team of expert criminal law barristers on the Western circuit
Adam Feest QC’s criminal law team at 3PB rightly enjoys a formidable reputation and its barristers are instructed in complex high profile cases on the Western and other Circuits. Building upon a great tradition that has seen criminal law being practised at 3 Paper Buildings for over 100 years, we have a large and market leading team of silks and juniors, backed by a highly regarded team of specialist criminal clerks.
Chambers & Partners (2020) reports that 3PB is “well respected for its "excellent breadth and depth of advocates," as well as its handling of high-profile cases involving sexual abuse, drugs charges and violent crime. Barristers at the set remain a popular choice for the CPS and also offer extensive experience of acting for the defence". The Legal 500 UK Bar 2021 reports that "according to some observers in the criminal law space [the set has] ‘the monopoly on the Western Circuit, due to its strength and depth’". The directory ranks both the Crime team and Business and Regulatory Crime (incl. Health and Safety) in the Top Tier, adding that "3PB 'is one of the forefront chambers in Western Circuit and a has a well-deserved reputation for quality representation for both prosecution and defence'". Members here are frequently instructed in criminal matters ranging from serious sexual offences to terrorism. The team represents an array of defendants as well as the CPS and other prosecuting authorities.”
As a specialist criminal chambers we have particular expertise in regulatory criminal offences, receiving instructions from government agencies, local authorities, businesses, insurers and private individuals. Our reputation has also been recently highlighted by the former head of chambers Nigel Lickley QC being appointed as a Circuit Judge at the Central Criminal Court and 3PB being awarded a certificate of congratulations from the Chief Constable of Hampshire.
With offices in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Bournemouth, Oxford and Winchester all equipped with modern conferencing and video link facilities, we are able to provide a comprehensive and professional service to all.
We welcome direct instructions from both businesses and members of the public under the direct access scheme and are able to offer bespoke services and fee structures to private clients unable or unwilling to access public funding.
Recent cases include:
- R –v- Higgins - high profile historic sexual offences case involving Southampton FC youth coach.
- Cheeki Rafiki - 4 sailors lost on a sailing yacht in the Atlantic. Prosecution for failure to properly maintain the vessel resulting in the worse consequences.
- Operation Endorse - multi handed revenge shooting by London drug dealers against a rival Portsmouth gang.
- R v Kevin Downton - case regarding the murder of businessman Guy Hedger.
- Huntingdon terror plot - Two defendants extradited from the Netherlands, sentenced for their part in a blackmail that stemmed from a campaign involving animal rights extremism, concluded in 2018.
- Metropolitan Police drug operation - resulted in a Hampshire prosecution that conclude with total sentence of 24 and a half years. for the traffickers
- Large scale importation of firearms in the Midlands – Multi handed conspiracy involved dozens of guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition.
- R v Abukaber - representing the defendant charged with the use of acid during a robbery involving A drugs
- HSE –v- Southern Gas – High profile health and safety prosecution, resulting from a breach of gas resulting in a large explosion. Company fines £1.2m
Stuart Pringle is the Group's Practice Director. His secure email address is stuart.pringle@3paper.cjsm.net . The group's practice management team can be reached at crime@3pb.co.uk. Additional contact details below.
Head of Group
Adam Feest QC
Email: adam.feest@3pb.co.uk Telephone: 01962 868 884
Practice Director
Stuart Pringle
Email: stuart.pringle@3pb.co.uk Telephone: 01962 868 884
Our Crime Barristers...
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3PB criminal barrister Tom Evans, pictured here, was successful in the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) yesterday after the Court allowed an appeal in the case of R v Birol. Tom's client entered a guilty plea to falsely imprisoning his daughter on the second day of his trial. In the summer of 2021, he had travelled with his wife and elder daughter to Bournemouth where they collectively enticed their younger daughter into their car and...
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3PB criminal barrister Jonathan Underhill (pictured here) has secured acquittal for his client in a case concerned with multiple allegations of same sex sexual assault. Jonathan’s client, a young woman of good character, was acquitted after a fully contested trial of four charges of Sexual assault. The offences were alleged to have taken place in a small bedroom in sight of an independent eyewitness. Further, the offences were said to have taken place against the...
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In May, 3PB criminal law barristers Gemma White and Thomas Acworth (pictured here) secured the convictions of three youths who used a log to inflict extremely serious, life threatening and life changing injuries upon a care worker. The care worker had challenged the youths for bullying another child. They were sentenced on 30 June 2022. The two ringleaders (brothers, aged 14 and 16) were found to be dangerous offenders. The youths were sentenced each to...
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3PB barrister Gemma White, pictured here, leading Thomas Acworth, also pictured, secured convictions in multi-handed youth trial for causing GBH. On Thursday 12th May 2022 a jury at Hove Crown Court returned guilty verdicts against three young defendants following a complex and sensitive three week trial, arising out of a sustained and frenzied assault on a 46 year old care worker in a park in Worthing on Easter Sunday 2021. Two teenage boys, aged 14...
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3PB barrister Oliver Hirsch (pictured here), a second six pupil coming to the end of his first month on his feet, has obtained a suspended sentence for a client charged with extremely serious allegations involving a bladed article. Our client, who suffered from several mental health issues, pleaded guilty and due the severity of the charges was facing a starting point of 18 months in custody, even though this was his first offence. Oliver was...
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At the end of last year, Sir Christopher Bellamy’s review of criminal legal aid recommended a number of actions which urgently needed to be taken in order to stop and reverse the decades long decline of the publicly funded bar due to under investment. His proposals were well-considered and based upon a multitude of evidence he had obtained from a wide variety of sources. In recent weeks, members of the Criminal Bar Association have voted...
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3PB specialist criminal barrister Christopher Pix (pictured here), successfully represented a client charged with assaulting an emergency worker and resisting arrest. The American citizen faced potentially damning evidence from a PC and PCSO, together with Body Worn Video. The client was an overstayer. He had been due to return to the US, but had been unable to do so. The Crown’s case was that he resisted lawful arrest and in doing so assaulted an emergency...
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3PB criminal barrister, Jodie Mittell, (pictured here) was instructed to represent a man from the Isle of Wight who was accused of raping six women over a period of 10 years. The 26 year old man of previous good character had been due to stand trial at Portsmouth Crown Court and his trial had been scheduled to last for four weeks from 4th April 2022. As part of his defence, Miss Mittell made a number...
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3PB specialist criminal barrister Berenice Mulvanny, pictured here, successfully represented a client charged with assaulting an emergency worker, securing a rare Bind Over at Bournemouth Crown Court after the Prosecution agreed to offer no evidence in exchange for the defendant agreeing to be bound over in the sum of £400 for 12-months. A 47-year-old woman of good character was alleged to have assaulted a police officer in Bournemouth on 22nd August 2021. Once fairly common...
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3PB’s specialist crime barrister Thomas Acworth, pictured here, recently acted for a lorry driver, who was accused of killing an elderly motorist in road traffic collision. The driver was reversing his flat-bed lorry into a building site when the deceased’s vehicle collided with him. The Crown alleged that he had not checked his mirrors prior to carrying out the manoeuvre. The deceased suffered two brain haemorrhages. Having analysed the medical evidence in detail, Thomas decided...
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3PB specialist criminal barrister Berenice Mulvanny, pictured here, successfully represented Doctor David Turner, one of four defendants charged with numerous counts of bribery relating to his time working for the NHS on the Isle of Wight. This was a complex case concerning allegations of accepting bribes from pharmaceutical companies to promote drugs within the NHS. The Prosecution alleged that Dr Turner and other senior NHS officials 'exploited' the health service by accepting almost £70,000 in...
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The case centred on whether the defendant committed a serious sexual assault against his 5-year old niece. The defendant denied the allegation and contended that his niece was either mistaken or wrongly attributing to him the behaviour of another family member. The case involved sensitive third party disclosure and an application pursuant to section 41 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. The social services records indicated previous reports by the complainant to her parents and a...
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Recommendations
Chambers UK 2022
Client service:
3PB Barristers houses a strong bench of dedicated criminal barristers, noted for their expert handling of a wide range of high-profile and complex cases. The team regularly undertakes work relating to crimes of the utmost gravity, including homicides, terror offences and large-scale drugs conspiracies. Regulatory criminal matters and cases involving both recent and historic sexual offences are also key areas of strength for the set, and members have experience of acting for both the prosecution and the defence.
"The clerks are very accommodating." Stuart Pringle is based in Winchester and is chambers director.
Legal 500 2022
CRIME (GENERAL AND FRAUD)
3PB 'has huge strength in depth in criminal work on the Western Circuit and can be relied upon to provide first class counsel for any case'.
BUSINESS AND REGULATORY CRIME (INCLUDING HEALTH AND SAFETY)
3PB is 'a strong set for regulatory work' with 'real strength in depth'
‘A Rolls Royce criminal set on the Western Circuit‘.
‘3PB has great strength in depth and is very accommodating in finding the right counsel for the job‘.
‘A well-respected set‘.
‘The chambers has a good range of high calibre barristers‘.
Legal 500 2021 - Tier 1
BUSINESS AND REGULATORY CRIME (INCLUDING HEALTH AND SAFETY) TIER 1
"Members of 3PB are highly active in health and safety cases across the western circuit, with instructions for both the defence and prosecution in a range of cases up to and including multi-fatality matters."
CRIME (GENERAL AND FRAUD) TIER 1
3PB 'is one of the forefront chambers in Western Circuit and a has a well-deserved reputation for quality representation for both prosecution and defence'.
Chambers UK 2021 - Band 1
3PB Barristers houses a strong bench of dedicated criminal barristers, noted for their expert handling of a wide range of high-profile and complex cases. The team regularly undertakes work relating to crimes of the utmost gravity, including homicides, terror offences and large-scale drugs conspiracies. Regulatory criminal matters and cases involving both recent and historic sexual offences are also key areas of strength for the set, and members have experience of acting for both the prosecution and the defence. Significant cases recently handled by the set's tenants include R v Robert Higgins, the high-profile prosecution of an ex-Southampton FC youth coach for a variety of historic sexual offences.
Client service: "The set is very well run and the clerks are all very experienced and approachable. They react quickly to changing events and provide reliable support." "3PB is a very welcoming chambers and all of the staff are polite, professional and committed." Stuart Pringle is based in Winchester and is chambers director.
Legal 500 2020
3PB is praised by clients as a 'go-to set' for both prosecution and defence instructions work across the western circuit, with 'excellent strength in depth'. The set is instructed on all manner of cases, including serious violent, sexual, or drug-related crime, as well as more specialist areas including fraud and court-martials. Timothy Bradbury prosecuted a British Army officer, who was alleged to have raped a United States Air Force captain. Adam Feest QC prosecuted a former Southampton FC youth coach for multiple historical sexual offences against 24 complainants.
Legal 500 2020
"according to some observers in the criminal law space [the set has] ‘the monopoly on the Western Circuit, due to its strength and depth’".
The combined clerks’ room across the set’s six offices is a ‘well-oiled machine’.
Lee Giles 'a master of his art'.
Chambers UK 2020 - Band 1
Well respected for its "excellent breadth and depth of advocates," as well as its handling of high-profile cases involving sexual abuse, drugs charges and violent crime. Barristers at the set remain a popular choice for the CPS and also offer extensive experience of acting for the defence. Recent significant cases include the Huntingdon Terror Plot, involving two defendants extradited from the Netherlands who were sentenced for their involvement in a blackmail that developed from a campaign involving animal rights extremism.
Client service: "The clerking is excellent and they are always ready to go the extra mile." "The clerks are efficient and easy to deal with." Stuart Pringle is based in Winchester and is chambers director.
Legal 500 2018/19
"3PB has great breadth and depth in its criminal team, with members acting in large-scale drug trafficking matters, high profile historic sexual offences, murder cases and violent crime. In a particular highlight, multiple members of the group acted in the high profile R v Kevin Downton case regarding the murder of businessman Guy Hedger."
Chambers UK 2017
3PB Barristers are in Band One and enjoy a sterling reputation on the Western Circuit for high levels of quality and consistency across its broad criminal practice. It has an enviable track record of handling high-profile and demanding criminal cases, including murder, fraud, drug and sex offences. Instructing solicitors single out the set's efficiency and excellent client service as strengths, observing that the practitioners are "extremely reliable with great diversity, and are able to get to grips with cases at a frightening speed."
Chambers UK 2017
3PB’s criminal practitioners provide ‘top-class advice and advocacy’.
Chambers UK 2016
"Getting almost impossible results time after time."
Legal 500 2016
"A great set of chambers."
always very accurate in their adviceChambers and Partners