Contact Information
I am a Consultant Solicitor at Duncan Lewis and practice in Prison Law, Civil Liberties and Criminal Law. I have extensive experience in Judicial Review applications and frequently represent clients at Parole Board Hearings.
I specialise in Prison Law and have a particular interest in 'Indeterminate Sentences' and 'Category A' prisoners. My Prison Law specialism is complemeneted by my considerable experience in Judidical Review applications in the High Court.
'In the absence of David's steely determination and excellent command of prison law and judicial review, I'm sure I would have needlessly served all my life sentence in Category A conditions.' (Client - Jamaican Foreign National Prisoner, 2016)
'I was told by various Offender Managers that I would never be released from custody until I admitted committing crimes that I simply did not do. 10 years post tariff, I had started to believe what I had been told was in fact true; until I was introduced to David that is. I was finally released from custody this year. I owe my freedom to David.' (Client, 2016)
R v George [2014]EWCA Crim 2507 - Mr George was convicted of murder in 2002. His case was subsequently taken up by the Innocence Project and Pro Bono Unit at Cardiff University Law School, who successfully petitioned the Criminal Justice Review Commission to refer the case. The Court of Appeal quashed his historic murder conviction on detailed re-evaluation of the weight to be given to gunshot residue evidence.
GMP v Calder [2015] - Greater Manachester Police (GMP) attempted to obtain an Injunction to Prevent Gang Related Violence (IPGV or Gangbo) against Mr Calder. The application was based on police intelligence and the lyrics of Mr Calder's YouTube Grime Rap videos. The application was unsuccessful and GMP appealed. On 14 January 2015, Mr Justice Blake dismissed GMP's appeal to the High Court, and in doing so, laid out guidance on the purpose and ambit of the IPGV legislation, which is currently being substantially amended by Parliament.
R (on the application of Adetoro) v Secretary of State for Justice [2012] - Mr Adetoro was a serving life sentence prisoner in Category A conditions. With the assistance of Counsel, I made a successful application to the Parole Board in relation to Mr Adetoro's progression to open conditions in the absence of any offence focused work. The case was unprecedented and the first of its kind. The Secretray of State agreed to the transfer but thereafter rescinded that decision. The Administrative Court [specialist court within the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court] allowed an application for Judicial Review of the decision of the Secretary of State. The decision had been procedurally unfair and the reasoning of the Secretary of State inadequate and irrational.