Courtney Smith

I am a Solicitor and Supervisor in the Actions Against Public Authorities Department. I joined the firm in 2015 and specialise in claims against public authorities and inquests. From 2015 to 2022 I was based in our City of London office. In January 2023 I moved to Newcastle to head up a new branch of the team in a new office in Newcastle Upon Tyne.

As a member of the Police Action Lawyers Group, my aim is to hold public authorities to account when they abuse their powers, fail to observe their professional obligations, or otherwise act unlawfully.

I represent Claimants in both complaints and civil claims against various public bodies, including police forces, the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice, HMCTS, local authorities and social services, NHS Trusts and various other government departments and public bodies.

I specialise in acting in claims for breaches of the Human Rights Act, historical abuse, misfeasance in public office, negligence, malicious prosecution, personal injury, false imprisonment, assault and battery, harassment, among others. I also advise clients in relation to the mishandling of personal information amounting to a breach of data protection legislation and discrimination. I am also experienced in challenging unlawful or irrational decisions of public bodies through judicial review.

I am a member of INQUEST and provide and legal representation for bereaved families in inquests in various settings, including Article 2 inquests and where the death may have taken place in police or prison custody, hospital or other medical settings and in the wider community. When a family member dies and an inquest is opened to investigate that death, I represent the family's interests throughout the proceedings, providing advice and support through what are traumatic and confusing times for the family.

Additionally, I have considerable experience in criminal defence matters. My previous criminal practice allowed me to represent those who the State had charged with a criminal offence and to provide robust defence from the initial police interview, throughout the investigation, to the conclusion of the case at either the Magistrates Court or Crown Court, including advice on appeal against conviction and/or sentence.

I also have experience in representing individuals in public law matters where my clients included those requiring representation for a range of judicial reviews, asylum claims and appeals in the First-tier and Upper Tribunals.

I often work alongside my colleagues in the criminal defence, public law, personal injury and clinical negligence departments where a client’s matter merges into the claims against public authorities and inquests field.

I am adept in anticipating possible challenges, making clear legal risk assessments and engaging intellectual and analytical skills to solve client problems in the most cost-effective and efficient manner.

I assist a wide variety of clients, many of whom are vulnerable and have experience in dealing with both legally aided and privately funded clients.

• Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice (Commendation) – BBP University Law School, London - 2015
• LLB Law (First Class Honours) - The University of Sunderland - 2014
• Awarded the University of Sunderland Professional Award – 2014
• Honour Roll Student, the University of Sunderland - 2013-2014

• Leading new team from Newcastle upon Tyne office: January 2023
• Legal Aid Supervisor Qualified: October 2021
• Admitted as a Solicitor: January 2019
• Duncan Lewis Solicitors: 2015 - present
• Sunderland University Law Clinic: 2013 - 2014

• "I found you to be very helpful, approachable, you explained things to me clearly in a manner I understood. You organised the barrister effectively and I found him to be a very experienced but also very warm person. Documents were sent to me in a timely fashion and I felt kept up to date at every step of the way. If anyone ever required an inquest solicitor I would be very happy to recommend your firm." - Client, 2021

Criminal Court

• R v Dzuga and others - A high profile case of human trafficking spanning a number of years which received notable media attention. This case involved two co-defendants and eight complainants claiming to have been trafficking into the UK and forced to work and live in squalid conditions over a period of 7 years. The client was eventually convicted of only 1 out of 4 counts of human trafficking and forced labour of which they were charged.


• R v Burges and others - This case involved a number of defendants who were city businessmen charged with conspiracy to defraud following the establishment of a boiler room in central London to allegedly sell scam investments in art and diamonds to unwitting members of the public and targeting vulnerable people to make sales. The result of the five week trial which took place in the Central Criminal Court was that the defendant represented by Duncan Lewis was found not guilty of the charges.

Civil Court

• Inquest touching upon the death of IT - Represented the interests of the family in an inquest touching upon the death of their nephew, Black British man who died after suffering a cardiac arrest whilst being held by the Met Police. IT pleaded for help as he became short of breath whilst under arrest. An ambulance was called but was severely delayed due to demand on the service at the time. Despite repeatedly telling the all-white police officers that he could not breathe and was going to die, IT was left handcuffed and lying on the street on one of the hottest days of the year without an inhaler, water, shade or medical assistance. IT was eventually moved into a police car in an effort to cool him down, but soon suffered a cardiac arrest, later dying in hospital. The inquest heard that although the police were told the ambulance service had suspended responses to all but the most urgent calls, the officers with IT did not consider driving him to a hospital, which was only two streets away, despite this being allowed in line with their training. Instead, the officers appeared not to be aware of that training and not to believe that IT was seriously unwell, telling him to “stop acting up” and to “grow up”. One described his pleas for help as “all a load of nonsense”. Submissions were made during the inquest in respect of race being a factor in the decision making of the Met Police. HM Coroner heard that in her independent review into Deaths and Serious Incidents in Police Custody, Rt. Hon. Dame Elish Angiolini DBE QC deals specifically with race and the investigative process of policing. She notes that “[t]he stereotyping of young Black men as ‘dangerous, violent and volatile’ is a longstanding trope that is ingrained in the minds of many in our society.” She further writes that INQUEST reported that its casework revealed a use of force and restraint that is disproportionate to the risks posed ‘especially where there is one detainee and a large number of officers’. She continues: “the perceived risk posed by the detainee may obscure people to their vulnerability … [s]uch perceptions increase the likelihood of force and restraint being used against an individual who may be unwell. The detainee is effectively dehumanised. In such circumstances the police officers may also use force and restraint in order to gain compliance to the exclusion of any focus on the wellbeing of the detainee which can ultimately lead to a medical crisis or death.” Crucially, Dame Angiolini notes that “[t]here is also concern that assumptions made about someone may lead to the denial of medical care. Experienced officers may believe they know when someone is faking an illness, but such assumptions can prove fatal.” She refers to the death of CA, where “[o]fficers laughed and joked whilst he lay dying on the floor of the custody suite. They reported that he was faking. He died after being left unconscious face down on the floor for 11 minutes.” In his concluding remarks, HM Coroner said that he was surprised the officers did not automatically think about the distance to the hospital when assessing whether to take IT there in the car, that it was not a matter of lack of training but a lack of application of their training. In addition, HM Coroner described it as “dismaying” that the Met Police had done nothing for the last three years to address the conduct of one officer, who had dismissed IT's pleas for help as “nonsense”. A jury found that IT's medical cause of death was acute asthma and situational stress, alongside two underlying health conditions. Dehydration was also cited as a contributing factor. The Jury also found that the Met’s assessment of the risk to IT was not adequate. The Coroner referred one of the officers involved to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) for further investigation. HM Coroner issued three prevention of future deaths report to address the multiple failings of to the Metropolitan Police and to highlight concerns to the Independant Office for Police Conduct and the Royal College of Emergency Medicine.


• DS v Secretary of State for the Home Department – Represented the claimant in a claim for damages for false imprisonment by the Home Office. The client was falsely imprisoned in immigration detention for over 400 days, despite strong evidence available to suggest they were a victim of torture and not suitable for detention. Claim settled and damages of £45,000 secured on behalf of the client.


• AS and Ors v The Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis – Represented two claimants in a claim for damages for negligence and trespass to land as a result of the actions of Metropolitan Police officers, who incorrectly executed a warrant at the clients' address, as opposed to the address named on their warrant. This left the clients suffering from significant psychiatric injury as a result of the trauma they suffered. Claim settled and damages of £36,000 secured on behalf of the clients.


• NG v Secretary of State for the Home Department - Represented the claimant in a claim for damages for false imprisonment by the Home Office. The client was falsely imprisoned for a number of months when the Home Office knowingly failed to ensure their release from immigration detention following a successful First-tier Tribunal appeal against a deportation order. Claim settled and damages of £10,000 secured on behalf of the client.


• TN v Secretary of State for the Home Department – Represented the claimant in a claim for damages for false imprisonment by the Home Office. The client was falsely imprisoned when the Home Office unlawfully placed a curfew upon them, alongside other monitoring and tagging conditions. It was determined that whilst the Home Office could lawfully tag and monitor those with pending asylum claims, who are released from immigration detention, there was no power to impose a curfew. Claim settled and damages of £9,000 secured on behalf of the client.


• Inquest Touching Upon the Death of JE - Represented the interests of the family in an inquest touching upon the death of their son, who died by suicide following being released from police custody and following an inadequate risk assessment, which took place without an approved mental health professional present. The inquest was given Article 2 status to widen the scope of the enquiry, following submissions made on behalf of the family. HM Coroner issued a nationwide prevention of future deaths report to address those failings.


• Inquest Touching Upon the Death of BG - Represented the interests of the family in an inquest touching upon the death of their son, who died by suicide following a failure by the local NHS Trust’s Crisis Team to accept a referral to the service and urgently assess the deceased. The inquest was given Article 2 status, following submissions made on behalf of the family which acted to widen the scope of the enquiry to examine the circumstances surrounding the death. HM Coroner noted a missed opportunity to assess the deceased at the earliest opportunity, which could reasonably have prevented their death. A civil claim for negligence and breach of Article 2 of the Human Rights Act follows and is currently being litigated.


• Inquest Touching Upon the Death of AFG and KFG v London North West University Healthcare Trust - Represented the interests of the family in an inquest touching upon the death of their father. The deceased had died when he was inadvertently administered a fatal dose of noradrenaline instead of his prescribed antibiotic and went into cardiac arrest from which he could not be resuscitated. HM Coroner concluded that the death was a direct consequence of excessive administration of noradrenaline. As a result of the inquest, a number of care and service delivery service problems were identified, including a failing to follow the Trust’s Intravenous Medicines and Inotropes and Vasopressors on the ICU policies. Following submissions made on behalf of the family as to prevention of future deaths, the Trust were encouraged to make changes to their policies and procedures surrounding the preparation and administration of intravenous medications and a task force was set up to look at improving Trust wide practice and changes have now been made to prevent future deaths. A civil claim for negligence followed, the Trust made an early admission of liability and the matter was settled swifty and without the need for proceedings being issued at court.


• Inquest Touching Upon the Death of HL – Represented the interests of the family in an inquest touching upon the death of their son, who died by drowning in a dock at a local tourist attraction. Issues related to the method of reporting the death to the police as well as the overall emergency response. Interested parties to the inquest were Chatham Historical Dockyard Trust, Kent Police Force, Kent Fire and Rescue Service and the South East Coast Ambulance Service. The inquest process encouraged the making of changes to Chatham Historical Dockyard’s policy relating to emergency reporting and their procedures in relation to emergency response and rescue.


• AG v London Borough of Camden - Judicial review in the High Court challenging the interpretation of the Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2010, specifically reg. 40(7)(ii) and whether ‘capable to be carried on lawfully and permanently’ means that a building is capable physically to be used for its intended purpose or not.

• Member of INQUEST
• Member of the Police Action Lawyers Group
• Centre for Women's Justice, Reference Panel Member

• Duncan Lewis Settles £150,000 Claim Against East London NHS Trust in Tragic Suicide Case (7 March 2024)
• Holding police to account after the horrors of David Carrick and Wayne Couzens (16 May 2023)
• Duncan Lewis opens new branch for actions against public authorities and inquests in Newcastle (1 February 2023)
• Duncan Lewis represents the family of black British man who died in Brixton whilst under arrest by Met Police (23 May 2022)
• Inquest success after death ruled preventable (27 April 2022)
• Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) life (Local Government Lawyer) (27 March 2019)