Samuel Skinner

R v Brown – fraud – Samuel defended Twitter/X’s ‘The Secret Defendant’ during her prosecution by HMRC for fraud offences. Samuel applied to the Court to end the case against the defendant as an abuse of process. The prosecution accepted his arguments and dropped the case.

Operation Oakridge – organised crime, attempted murder, firearms – Samuel Skinner, leading Claire Fraser, prosecuted 11 defendants at Derby Crown Court alleging attempted murder during organised violence at an international kabaddi fixture. What should have been a fun family day out at a sporting event descended into a huge violent disorder which left multiple people seriously injured and many people in fear for their safety after at least firearms were discharged in broad daylight. The defendants received heavy sentences.

R v Mills – prosecuting a murder trial – Samuel Skinner led Matthew Rowcliffe against a silk and junior. This was a stabbing on a Leicester street late at night witnessed by several children who Samuel called to give evidence for the Crown. He also presented complicated expert evidence from a forensic pathologist about the cause of death because the defendant had broken the knife during the attack and left part of the blade inside his victim. The jury convicted the defendant of murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 21 years.

Artificial Intelligence – Samuel has been advising a multi-national corporation about the use of AI in gathering evidence through body worn video footage.

X v Chief Constable of Guernsey – Samuel has recently advised the Guernsey police about a series of civil applications being brought by a resident about police behaviour on the island.

Operation Transpire – organised crime, attempted murder- Samuel Skinner, leading Tom Parker, prosecuted a 6 defendant case alleging attempted murder and related offences by a gang of masked knifemen who burst into the home of a teenager and stabbed him in the neck in front of his mum. There were life changing injuries suffered by the victim, who suffered from massive blood loss and a subsequent stroke. All the defendants were convicted.

X v Disclosure and Barring Service – civil – an appeal to the Upper Tribunal (Administrative Appeals Chamber) under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006. Samuel acted on behalf of a teacher whom the DBS had barred from working with adults and children based on unproven allegations that she had hit her pupils. Samuel drafted grounds of appeal, using human rights principles, and said that the DBS had made serious errors of law. Having read Samuel’s grounds of appeal, the DBS conceded the appeal and the teacher returned to work.

R v Davidson – child sexual abuse – Samuel Skinner led a junior barrister when prosecuting the defendant’s campaign of rapes against 5 very young siblings, and a girlfriend, taking place over many years. In this case there were challenging factual and legal issues as crimes crossed decades and changing legislation. Samuel was instructed pre-charge and took the case all the way through to its conclusion when the defendant pleaded guilty to the 30 crimes Samuel had identified. When sentencing the defendant to 25 years in custody, the experienced judge said that it was the worst case of its kind that he had seen.

Operation C – historical sexual abuse – Samuel, leading a junior barrister, prosecuted an elderly, retired, GP for sexually abusing 5 female patients (and one member of administrative support staff at the surgery) during intimate examinations over 25 years. This was a sensitive case owing to the defendant’s reputation in the small community where he was well known. It involved very complex expert evidence with analysis of thousands of medical notes to ascertain whether the medical examinations had ever been clinically necessary. Samuel succeeded in a contested application for a witness summons for the defendant’s former colleagues to deliver up their folder of complaints about him. Samuel also dealt with a complicated hearsay notice, resisted a s.8 application for further disclosure of the victims’ private medical notes, and dealt with complex legal arguments on fitness to plead and abuse of process. Samuel also drafted 2 sets of representations to the Attorney General resisting an application for a nolle prosequi.

Operation Nutmeg – organised crime – Samuel Skinner led Adam Pearson and prosecuted a 9-week trial against 6 defendants accused of conspiracies to supply kilos of Class A drugs in Leicester, along with associated money laundering. He presented complicated telephone evidence showing connections between defendants along with cell-site maps and ANPR evidence to prove their locations at important times. He also presented evidence from undercover police surveillance officers, called a drugs expert, and called a forensic scientist to deal with complex DNA evidence. He argued 5 bad character applications and hearsay, resisted a s.8 disclosure application which needed consideration about asserting Public Interest Immunity, and made a successful witness anonymity application. He resisted several submissions at the close of the Crown’s case, then cross examined the 3 defendants who chose to give evidence. There were 5 convictions resulting in long sentences.

Operation Tinge – organised crime – Samuel Skinner prosecuted the Portland Tiara heist case during a 3-month, 11 defendant trial. The case involved the burglary of the Harley Gallery in Nottinghamshire by criminals who stole the nationally significant, multimillion pound, Portland Tiara, before spiriting it to a jewellers in London’s Hatton Garden. It was then smuggled abroad. The gang also robbed and burgled wealthy families across the UK, including the footballers Ashley Cole and Tom Huddlestone. Samuel presented eyewitness evidence, along with complex cell-site and ANPR mapping data and DNA. He made 5 bad character applications, and successfully resisted an application to discharge the jury. The result was 6 convictions (all the lead defendants).

R v Cummins – attempted murder – Samuel prosecuted a domestic violence attempted murder. The defendant and his victim lived together with their 10 year old child. The defendant got drunk one day and when he returned home late at night he argued with his victim and chased her upstairs where he stabbed her 18 times. He was so angry he broke the blade of the knife and left it inside his victim’s back. He confessed to the 10 year old and ran out of the house. It took the child nearly 6 months to be ready to make a statement against his father, who was sentenced to 22 years.

R v X – rapes of a disabled child – Samuel prosecuted a trial (led by KC) alleging a defendant’s sexual abuse of his vulnerable, non-verbal, stepdaughter who is wheelchair bound with severe cerebral palsy. Samuel helped the Court receive evidence from this profoundly disabled complainant via video recording and special measures utilising a specialist intermediary, an electronic communication box, communication cards, and simplification of the oath.

R v M – rape by a police officer – Samuel prosecuted a one-week rape trial where the defendant was a policeman. The defendant said the complainant had consented to sexual activity. The Crown argued that the complainant was too drunk to have consented. Samuel helped the reluctant complainant to present her evidence clearly to the jury and successfully resisted a last minute defence application about her previous sexual history. He presented CCTV evidence and witness evidence from serving police officers who knew the defendant from his work as a constable.

R v Pipe – 1960s sexual abuse –Samuel prosecuted Nigel Pipe, a former housemaster at Skegby Hall in Nottinghamshire, for offences of historical sexual abuse against boys under his care.

Serious Fraud Office v X – Samuel has been instructed by the Serious Fraud Office, in relation to an investigation into a multi-billion dollar bribery and corruption investigation involving a FTSE100 listed corporation.

R v X – terrorism – Autistic Spectrum Disorder Defence – Samuel defended in a terrorism trial at Leeds which was said to be the largest collection of s.58 terrorist material ever prosecuted in the UK. The trial judge accepted the defence argument that autistic spectrum disorder is capable in law of contributing to a defence of ‘reasonable excuse’ under the Terrorism Act 2000.

An absolute star in the making.SIO East Mids 2023

Samuel has a thorough and assured grasp of law and procedure. He has excellent judgment and an unerring sense of the key issues in a case. He is meticulous in his preparation, and his courtroom advocacy is fluent and robust. He is always polite and respectful with opponents, colleagues, judges, and court staff. Ambitious and astute lawyer with excellent judgement.Legal 500 2023

He is the complete package. I have worked with exceptionally gifted counsel and in my view Sam Skinner is one of the best juniors at the bar.Legal 500 2022

A very technical and bright barrister with an ability to grasp information very quickly and apply that in the context of the case.Legal 500 2021