Call: 1985
Criminal law, including appeals, wrongful convictions and miscarriages of justice.
Matthew accepts instructions by direct access, not just in purely criminal matters, but also in related areas of the law such as applications to amend or revoke Sexual Offender Prevention Orders etc.
As “barristerblogger” he is one of the country’s best known legal bloggers and runs the website www.barristerblogger.com.
Matthew is a member of the Criminal Bar Association and the Criminal Appeal Lawyers Association.
All areas of criminal law, particularly as a defence and appellate advocate.
Matthew welcomes instructions by direct access, including appeals and applications to vary or remove restrictive orders such as Sexual Offence Prevention Orders, ASBOs, Risk of Sexual Harm Orders etc.
He also has experience in professional disciplinary work, including medical and veterinary fitness to practise tribunals.
He is often instructed to give a “second opinion” advice in criminal appeals.
Conviction for penetrative sexual abuse of 4 y.o. child quashed after court received fresh expert evidence.
Court of Appeal quashed conviction over judge's summing up of bad character evidence in alleged case of marital rape. The appellant, who had served 2 years of a 15 year sentence, was cleared of all allegations after the prosecution offered no evidence at the retrial.
Historic allegations of child rape and cruelty. Court of Appeal gave leave to appeal and ruled that "expert" counselling evidence on the effects of child abuse was wrongly admitted as a result of errors by the original trial counsel, but nevertheless upheld conviction.
Court of Appeal refused Attorney-General's attempt to increase sentence in S.18 stabbing case.
Right to appear naked in court “The Naked Rambler.” The first and so far only time an appellant has appeared naked in the Court of Appeal, albeit by video link. Unfortunately the right to appear naked in the Crown Court was not established, although the case was decided on the narrow basis that in Mr Gough's particular case appearing naked would have breached the terms of his ASBO.
Leading case on sentences for cannabis cultivation.
Murder of Horndean schoolgirl Helen Gorrie. Conviction quashed on appeal. Case remains unsolved.
2013 conviction for sexual allegations against 2 sisters dating from the 1970s. Mr Ryan's case was taken up by the miscarriage of justice charity APPEAL. The Court of Appeal quashed the convictions in 2021 and ordered a retrial. At the retrial the prosecution offered no evidence and not guilty verdicts were recorded on every count.
2022 convictions for rape were quashed by the Court of Appeal as a result of misdirections by the trial judge on the issue of belief in consent. Other convictions were upheld. Mr Green was aged 90 at the time of his conviction and 93 at the time of his appeal. His sentence was reduced from 24 years to 12 years. The Court rejected arguments that the judge had failed to give a proper "Adams" direction on cross-admissibility, and held that although the judge had failed to give a proper direction on the status of judicial comments this did not in the particular circumstances of the case render the remaining convictions unsafe. An application to certify a point of law for consideration by the Supreme Court has been made. Led by Edward Henry KC.
The Court of Appeal ruled that Mr Fowler had been wrongly assessed as "dangerous" by the sentencing judge. As a result the finding of "dangerousness" was quashed and his extended 10 year sentence was replaced by an 8 year determinate sentence. Leave to appeal against the convictions was refused.
Last week was a busy week for Pump Court members […]
To instruct Matthew or if you require help or advice please contact our clerking team.
Call +44 (0)20 7353 0711 or email clerks@pumpcourtchambers.com.
Matthew is a well known legal blogger and journalist.
As well as running the award-winning legal blog www.barristerblogger.com, Matthew writes on legal issues for national newspapers and websites including The Daily Telegraph, The Times, Standpoint, The Spectator, The New Statesman and Quillette. He also contributes to professional journals including Counsel, Criminal Law and Justice, the Criminal Bar Quarterly and Scottish Legal News. He regularly broadcasts on BBC and independent national and local radio and is in demand as a speaker on legal affairs for example on rape laws at the Battle of Ideas and on miscarriages of justice to FACT (“False Allegations Against Carers and Teachers”).
He has kept bees for over 40 years, variously in Hampshire, North Yorkshire, London and Bath.
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