Sunjay Versani

I am a Director of the Crime and Prison Law. I am charged with responsibility for these practice groups, as well as Motoring and Regulatory Law, at our City of London and Harrow offices. I am a highly-regarded criminal defence specialist and have been part of Duncan Lewis since 2009. I manage a formidable team of lawyers whose high calibre work is perennially recognised with industry quality hallmarks and by the independent legal directories.

I was Called to the Bar in 2007 and Admitted to the Roll in 2008. As such, I am counted amongst the small cadre of English lawyers able to both appear before and conduct litigation in all courts and tribunals throughout the jurisdiction. Beyond which I am also licensed to practice in the British Indian Ocean Territory. This vertical integration of skills has allowed me to act in many thousands of contested cases across the gamut of English and international criminal law. I am well-versed in the cut-and-thrust of adversarial proceedings and in the conduct of work of public importance. I have stood before the highest courts in the land and have been instructed in sensitive, complex and voluminous litigation on behalf of a multitude of individuals and entities, across borders and languages.

During my career, I acted in the well-known Waya litigation, which led to a landmark Supreme Court judgement casting a much-needed sea-change in proceeds of crime jurisprudence. As sole instructed counsel, I defended a multi-million-pound insider fraud upon the NatWest bank at the Old Bailey and successfully managed to reduce a lengthy sentence in one of the very first cases to be televised live in the 100-year history of the Court of Appeal. I secured a favourable outcome in a case involving the stalking of musician Rita Ora, and negotiated a discontinuance for a member of Elton John’s staff falsely accused of misuse of computers. I also led the defence of a high-profile client wrongly implicated in the 'Putney Bridge Pusher' investigation – an internationally-publicised incident of a jogger pushing a female pedestrian into the path of an oncoming London bus.

I have an enviable track record in defending cases involving alleged sexual wrongdoing, white-collar and social security fraud, as well as sundry violence, dishonesty, narcotics, and road traffic prosecutions.

I also undertake specialist extradition work (routinely dealing with international requests under both parts of the Act). I advise those with discrete legal needs which often arise in parallel to criminal proceedings. I have assisted professional clients in navigating workplace investigations and disciplinary/regulatory issues with their overseeing bodies.

• Bar School, College of Law, Bloomsbury
• Law LLB, Hons – University of Leicester
• Dr Challoner's Grammar School

• Appointed as Director of Crime - Duncan Lewis Solicitors (2023 - Present)
• Consultant Criminal Solicitor - Duncan Lewis Solicitors (2009 - 2023)

• Recommended Lawyer - Legal 500 UK, (2024)
• Rising Star – Thompson Reuters 'Super Lawyers Guide' 2014/15

Supreme Court

• R v Waya [2012] UKSC 51 - Landmark Supreme Court Judgment (Mortgage Fraud / POCA)

Court of Appeal

• R v Pitchei [2013] EWCA Crim 2108 2013 WL 6047272 - Appeal against sentence: sexual assault - 9 years imprisonment reduced to 32 months
• R v Ellis [2014] CoA (predatory sex offender 3-year sentence halved on appeal)
• R v Thambapillai [2009] EWCA Crim 567 2009 WL 648872 - Conspiracy to defraud, phantom credit card transactions - conviction quashed on appeal

Criminal Court

• R v Ceesay (£100,000 value - 22 handed conspiracy to steal)
• R v Boyd (Led Jnr OCG - drugs/prostitution/Covert Investigation)
• R v Yogenthiran (gang related GBH, counsel for D1 - acquitted after trial)
• R v Farquhar (Step-father campaign of historical sexual abuse - hung jury)
• R v Gocan (Acquitted of Murder)
• Yashraj Films International (advising Bollywood film studio re. mercantile contractual dispute)

• Member of the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn
• Civil & Criminal Proceedings Higher Rights of Audience
• Criminal Litigation: Law Society Accreditation
• The SRA Management Course
• London Criminal Courts Solicitors’ Association
• Listed in Good Lawyer Guide
• Law Society Young and Vulnerable Witnesses Advocacy Accreditation Course

• Political Biography
• Boxing, Swimming
• Mountaineering - I have traversed ranges across five continents and successfully climbed numerous notable high peaks in excess of 6000m ASL
• Mentor with Dr Challoner’s Grammar School Alumni Scheme

• Non-Crime Hate Incidents: A New Policing Frontier? (21 October 2025)
• Duncan Lewis Solicitors Celebrates Landmark Results in The Legal 500 UK 2026 (1 October 2025)
• Elon Musk’s Protest Comments: Where Does Free Speech End and the Law Begin? (17 September 2025)
• Understanding the Youth Justice System: Protecting Your Child’s Rights (15 August 2025)
• Key Changes in the New Sentencing Guidelines for Careless Driving (4 August 2025)
• Failure to Prevent Fraud: What Businesses Need to Know (23 June 2025)
• Benefit Fraud Investigations: What You Need To Know (11 June 2025)
• Duncan Lewis Criminal Law Director Explains Court Rationale Behind Lucy Connolly’s Sentence in The Guardian (27 May 2025)
• When a Tweet Becomes a Crime: What the Lucy Connolly Case Says About Online Hatred (20 May 2025)
• Understanding White Collar Crime: Legal Implications and Penalties (12 May 2025)
• What to Expect During Extradition Proceedings (30 April 2025)
• Duncan Lewis Criminal Law Director Featured in the Daily Mail on Noise Pollution (15 November 2024)
• Legal and Ethical Questions in the Chris Kaba Shooting Case (23 October 2024)
• Charges against Teenage Girl Dropped in Snapchat Indecent Video Case (15 October 2024)
• Sunjay Versani discusses the Rise of “Dine and Dash” and your Rights at Law in CLH Digital (23 August 2024)
• Seeking Access to Justice in a Legal Black Hole (20 June 2024)
• Duncan Lewis Criminal Law Team Delivers Remarkable Result for Client in ‘Dirty’ Cash Trial (21 February 2024)
• Old Bailey Victory for Duncan Lewis’ Client Wrongly Charged with Drugs Offence (17 January 2024)
• Old Bailey victory for Duncan Lewis client wrongly charged with drugs offences (28 July 2023)
• Reforming UK Abortion Laws: Addressing Outdated Sentencing and Legal Ambiguities (27 June 2023)
• Heavy-handed Coronation Arrests Should Concern Us All, writes Duncan Lewis criminal law solicitor (9 May 2023)
• “I’m proud to lead a team of formidable criminal lawyers’ says new crime director Sunjay Versani (5 May 2023)
• Anger as Kilburn paedophile Harold Anthony jailed for three and a half years (Brent and Kilburn Times) (28 December 2017)
• Duncan Lewis Crime Solicitors successfully appealed against sentence in one of the first televised Court of Appeal hearings in the Court's 100 year history. (3 December 2013)