Practice Profile
Samuel was educated at Oxford University and began work as a barrister in 2007. He prosecutes and defends in the most serious and complex criminal cases.
Samuel’s recent caseload involves murder, attempted murder, and serious sexual offences.
Samuel has expertise prosecuting and defending in large-scale fraud cases, and cybercrime.
He also spent much of 2018 involved in long running trials alleging conspiracies to supply industrial quantities of class A drugs; and conspiracies to commit serious violence by criminal gangs involved in the ‘county lines’ drug supply trade.
Samuel also has substantial experience in judicial review cases and appeals in criminal and regulatory matters. He was previously appointed as civil Treasury Counsel concentrating almost exclusively on judicial review matters.
Samuel has appeared in leading cases in both criminal and civil law, which are cited in the practitioner textbooks.
Samuel advises on complex and unusual areas of criminal and regulatory law. He also provides training in these areas. He has advised the Revenue and the police on matters relating to independent counsel, disclosure and search warrants. Samuel acts for Trading Standards departments and recently advised a large local authority on its powers under the criminal law to prevent the spread of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis. He has also advised national government about criminal infringements of medicines law.
Work Undertaken
- Consumer Law and Trading Standards Offences
- Criminal Judicial Review
- Cybercrime
Appointments & Memberships
Appointed to the CPS General Panel of Advocates at Level 3
Appointed to the CPS Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Panel at Level 3
Appointed to the CPS Fraud Panel at Level 3
Member of the Midland Circuit.
Member of the Nottingham Bar Mess.
Lord Justice Holker Award holder, Gray's Inn.
Exhibitioner of Jesus College, University of Oxford.
Viscount Sankey scholar, Jesus College, University of Oxford.
Notable Cases
R v Romaine and Others
R v Romaine and Others at St Albans CC was a case where the Crown alleged that five defendants were involved in a conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm with intent. After a nine week trial Derek Johashen and Samuel Skinner’s client was found not guilty of all charges. They were instructed by Spartans Law, Luton. The case arose out of Bedfordshire Police’s operation Kruse into gang-related offending in Bedford:
Prosecuting in R v Gary Gardner at Leicester, where the defendant was convicted of defrauding the son of the murdered soldier Lee Rigby.
Prosecuting the rape case of R v Amina Barham. After a week’s trial before HHJ Spencer QC and a jury at Nottingham, the defendant was convicted of a stranger rape and sentenced to 8 years.
R v James Adam – murder. Led by Richard Pratt QC and instructed by Michael Culshaw and Co of Grimsby. Samuel defended a man accused of stabbing his victim to death on bank holiday Monday 2017 in Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire.
R v Teresa Lavin – attempted murder. Samuel prosecuted a former prison officer who stabbed her next-door neighbour. The defendant received a life sentence.
Prosecuting in R v Foreshaw and others, a large-scale class A drugs conspiracy at Nottingham. All the defendants were convicted after a five-week trial of conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine. One of the offenders was a local councillor
R v Neil Jackson – rape. Samuel prosecuted this historical rape case where the defendant had disappeared for 17 years after the allegations were made. The BBC’s Crimewatch programme had made an appeal for information about the defendant’s whereabouts.
Education and Qualifications
MA (Oxon), Jesus College, University of Oxford
Bar Vocational Course - Inns of Court School of Law
Graduate Diploma in Law- BPP Leeds
Pupil supervisors: Riel Karmy-Jones QC; Brian O’Neill QC, Tyrone Belger, The Hon. Mrs. Justice Cheema-Grubb.