Richard Bennett

Call: 1996 Inner Temple

Education: BSc (Hons) Newcastle

Approved Pupil Supervisor: 2007


Introduction

Richard Bennett is a specialist criminal barrister. He was appointed a Grade 4 Crown Prosecutor in 2006. He has wide experience in prosecuting and defending the most serious criminal offences.

Recently, he has prosecuted and defended in a substantial number of serious sexual offences, drug offences and offences of violence. He is regularly instructed by a number of criminal defence solicitors. He has recently accepted defence instructions in murder, attempted murder, rape and a number of offences of serious violence and sexual assault.

Richard also acts for a number of local authorities and public bodies in private prosecutions. He has prosecuted several high profile trading standards cases including multi-handed frauds both on his own and as a leading junior. He has prosecuted a number of large scale counterfeit goods operations. He also specialises in prosecuting "rogue traders". In all of the many cases prosecuted since 2000 for local authorities and public bodies he has retained a 100% conviction rate.

The cases listed below are cases in which he has recently been instructed as the case counsel. Cases returned to him from other counsel are not included in the list.

Prosecution Experience

CPS Grade 4

Recent and significant cases

Defence Cases:

R v B (successfully defending an Iraqi asylum seeker against allegations of familial rape)

R v L (successfully defending a client charged with a series of rapes against his natural daughter)

R v S (successfully defending a client charged with raping his step-daughter)

R v B (successfully defending a client charged with attempting to rape his grand-daughter)

R v H (successfully defending a client charged with indecently assaulting his step-daughter)

R v Khali (defending a client charged with kidnapping and raping a prostitute)

R v Y (defending a client charged with kidnapping, assaulting and raping his estranged wife)

R v S-D (defending a Somali asylum seeker charged with raping and sexually assaulting his natural daughter and niece)

R v Young (leading counsel for one defendant in a multi-handed Jamaican crack cocaine conspiracy)

R v Iley (junior counsel in a domestic murder)

R v Henderson-Thynne (junior counsel in 9 month voir dire at Teesside Crown Court)

CPS Cases:

R v Mayhew (attempted murder)

R v H (step-father historically sexually abusing two step-daughters)

R v Sawdon (indecent assault of a stranger on a bus)

R v Sullivan (36 year old woman having sexual intercourse with 12 year old boy on 191 occasions)

R v C (step-father historically sexually abusing step-daughter)

R v Preston (series of indecent assaults on a passenger in a car)

R v I (male in his twenties historically repeatedly buggering and sexually abusing his 6 year old half brother)

R v Black (rape of an under aged girl by a teenager)

R v Lamb (prison officer exchanging indecent images of children over the internet)

R v H-L (teenager who set up an elaborate internet deception to sexually abuse a class mate at school and film the abuse)

R v W-F (child cruelty: same sex couple who imprisoned two boys in their bedroom every night)

R v Champley & Others (ebay conspiracy to defraud)

R v Kelly & Others (s18 gang samurai sword attack)

R v Harrison (s18 stabbing)

R v Breckon (sexual assaults against students at college)

R v Thexton & Others (professionally planned conspiracy to steal cash machine)

R v Swan (sexual acts committed against a babysitter)

R v Hutchinson (rape)

R v M (child cruelty)

R v Honeyman (rape of a prostitute)

R v Percival (historic sexual abuse of a child)

R v B (14 year old boy committing a series of rapes against younger brother)

Local Authority Prosecutions:

Kinder and Parkin (ebay counterfeit designer goods)

Tunney and Shaw (conspiracy to defraud through false internet domain names and Sky warranties)

Blick and Thomas (puppy farm false pedigree certificates fraud)

Toal and Wilson (rogue traders preying on elderly victims)

Zanelli and Ridley (money laundering through ebay counterfeit designer goods)

Glynn (rogue trader preying on elderly victims)

Phillips & Others (rogue traders preying on a series of elderly victims)

Edwards & Others (leading counsel for prosecution in a multi-handed ebay fraud and conspiracy to launder money)

Associations

North Eastern Circuit (Circuit Junior 2002/2003)
Criminal Bar Association