Sarah Regan
Degree: LL.B (Hons) University of West of England
Year of call and Inn: 2000; Lincoln’s Inn
Professional Membership: Western Circuit; CBA
Practice:
Sarah is a specialist in criminal law undertaking both defence and prosecution work including prosecuting as a sole junior in two cases which have been defended by Queens Counsel. She is a CPS panel advocate level 4 prosecutor.
She has a particular interest in cases which involve issues of disclosure and has extensive experience of Public Interest Immunity. She specialises in defending and prosecuting offences of violence, those with vulnerable witnesses as well as sexual offences involving both adults and children. She advises on prison law and judicial review, most recently in relation to prisoners imprisoned for public protection and held beyond their tariff.
Sarah is responsible for editing the Albion Chambers Crime Team Newsletter, lectures on advocacy for the Western Circuit and Lincoln’s Inn and is the Bristol Bar Junior for the Western Circuit. She is also a mentor for undergraduate students as well as those on the BPTC at UWE and is a member of the Bar Council Speakers up for Justice Project.
Cases of Interest in 2011 – 2012:
Fraud, Theft, drugs and miscellaneous:
Tarling: fraudulent trading – allegation of a director carrying out a business solely for a fraudulent purpose.
T: allegation of perverting the course of justice arising from a linked child cruelty allegation which involved issues about the location from which phone calls could have been made and whether the defendant had the mental capacity at the time to commit the offence alleged
Kelly: burglary where the issue was despite an admission in interview and a guilty plea in the Magistrates’ Court insanity which involved a successful application to vacate the guilty plea.
Crompton: fraud by the owner/director of various companies trading over the internet and targeting international companies in an attempt to frustrate prosecution
Fillingham& Others: conspiracy to rob and firearms offences which included significant surveillance/observation material and issues of PII.
Offences of violence:
Ntintili: conspiracy to neglect a patient under the Mental Incapacity Act 2005 following the death of a patient in a care home and a plan hatched thereafter to cover it up. The issues involved not only determination of the novel elements of the offence under the MIA 2005 but consideration of a vast amount of medical and expert evidence on the possible mechanism of the fall, the problems caused by late presentation and the cause of death.
Snook: manslaughter (as a sole junior) where the death resulted from injuries sustained in a fall following a single punch.
Samuels: historic domestic abuse where the offences occurred twenty years prior to the complaint. The issues included bad character, hearsay in respect of the evidence of a child not subject to the complaints and obtaining medical and other evidence in order to corroborate the complaints.
Cockle: a professional carer accused of committing a violent assault upon her elderly mother and another family member.
T: child cruelty of a three week old baby found to have severe brain injuries and numerous broken bones. The issues included the fitness to plead of one defendant, bad character evidence both defendant and non-defendant, whether the substantive offence could be proved against one or either defendant in the absence of admissions from either as well as extensive cross examination of a number of medical experts.
Thornton: death by dangerous driving following the failure of a lorry to stop on the M4.
Galvin: damaging property being reckless as to whether life was endangered resulting from the defendant making a hole in a gas pipe
H: youth charged with aggravated burglary following a violent attack on a pregnant woman in her own home
Sexual offences
Bence: rape (as a sole junior against a silk) where the issues included the admissibility of previous sexual behaviour on the same night but with another man.
Hughes: rape where the victim was not only a family friend of the defendant but was extremely vulnerable and with a limited life expectancy. Issues involved bad character and the admissibility of evidence to show that the complainant, who was gay, had had relationships with men in the past.
S: Juvenile accused of sexual assaults on two complainants.
Manureh: stranger rape
Jeje: rape of an ex girlfriend which involved a successful s. 41 application and extensive cross examination of text messages and emails to rebut allegation.
Draper: step father accused of sexual offences covering a 5 year period from the age of 10.
Mitchell: Partner accused of rape having been prosecuted for an assault on the same partner after the allegation of rape is said to have occurred.
Publications
The Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology 2009
The Times Newspaper Tuesday March 14 2000:
Dining at the Inns – other views
Reported Cases
Mills & Poole (2003) 1 WLR 2931, (2004) 1 C R App R 7, (2004) Crim LR 60 (murder/disclosure)
R v. Pace West Wiltshire JJ (2002) 2 Archbold News 2 DC (judicial review of justices decision to accept jurisdiction)
R v. Pronick (2006) EWCA 2517
R v. Peter James Knight (2007) EWCA Crim 3027 (counsel at trial and who drafted the Crown’s response and skeleton argument although not present at hearing due to maternity leave)
Cases that have made the National News
Prosecution of Lynn Coles – the lady who threw a tomato at Tony Blair
Prosecution of Peter Docherty – dangerous driving and drugs offences
Prosecution of Mills & Poole the subject of a number of documentaries including Trial and Error
Prosecution of Ronald Pemberton – 83 year old man who used his car to shunt 2 others out of the way
Prosecution of Euphemia Ntintili – nurse who covered up a fall in a care home
Albion Chambers, Broad Street, Bristol BS1 1DR
T: 0117 927 2144
F: 0117 926 2569
sarah.regan@albionchambers.co.uk
Clerk: Bonnie Colbeck
T 0117 311 0301
Back | Print this page | Top