Stephen Mooney
Degree: LL.B (Hull)
Year of call and Inn: 1987; Inner Temple
Professional Membership: Western Circuit; CBA
Practice:
Stephen Mooney is a specialist criminal practitioner. He is a CPS panel advocate level 4 prosecutor and is on the approved list of counsel for the Attorney General (unified prosecuting list A). He has an expanding regulatory crime and disciplinary tribunal-based practice, and is a member of the Bar Standards Prosecuting Panel for Disciplinary hearings. He is the head of the Albion Chambers Crime Team.
Crime
Prosecution
He has prosecuted as a leading junior a number of linked conspiracies to supply drugs and weapons to the South West of England that generated profits in excess of £50 million. The principal trial ran for two months and involved the first use of the SOCPA ‘supergrass’ provisions in the Avon and Somerset area. Stephen is instructed in substantial and complicated multi-handed cases. He was leading junior in a multi-handed conspiracy to defraud elderly people and a seven-handed conspiracy to defraud clearing banks. In addition, he has prosecuted three allegations of murder as junior alone against leading and junior counsel, one of which was of a ‘mercy killing’. He has led for the prosecution of a serious “stranger rape” with an associated six-handed conspiracy to pervert the course of justice involving the use of a sawn off shot gun to threaten the complainant.
Defence
His defence practice is wide ranging. His most notable recent case is as junior in the defence of R v Restivo, the ‘hair in the hand murder’. This involved many novel and complex issues of law including the introduction of bad character evidence that the defendant had committed a murder in Italy. He has recently appeared as leading junior in a multi-handed conspiracy to supply class A drugs as well as numerous allegations of rape, serious violence and indecency with children both as leading counsel and alone.
He is also regularly instructed as junior in allegations of murder.
Fraud
Stephen has a rapidly developing practice in fraud both for the prosecution and defence. He has prosecuted a policeman charged with numerous allegations of fraud as well as in multi-handed defendant conspiracies to defraud. He has defended, as leading junior, a dentist charged with a multi- million pound conspiracy to defraud by faking his own death. He has also defended a man who pretended to be literary agent in order to defraud authors and screen writers of over half a million pounds.
Regulatory Crime and Health and Safety
In the last 12 months he has been instructed to defend in prosecutions brought by the Health and Safety Executive, the Environment Agency and the Office of Rail Regulation. He has defended individuals including a headmaster charged with breaches of health and safety regulations whilst project managing the removal of asbestos from a primary school. He has also represented corporate clients such as SERCO Ltd in a two-week trial resulting from a death on the Docklands Light Railway. He is instructed to defend a manager of a paper-manufacturing plant charged with offences under the Pollution Prevention and Control (England and Wales) Regulations 2000 and the owner of a dockyard charged under the Health and Safety at Work Act in an incident that led to a serious injury to a child on work experience.
In addition, Stephen has experience of prosecuting allegations of Gross Negligent Manslaughter, in particular the prosecution of two individuals for causing the death of a student by throwing him with a trebuchet that they had constructed. He also advises transport companies in private prosecutions.
Tribunals, Employment and Inquests
Stephen conducts Police Disciplinary proceedings at first instance and all appellate levels. He also prosecutes on behalf of the Bar Standards Board. He has adapted many of the skills gained in these forums and has used them to develop an expanding practice in employment law where a combination of his extensive advocacy experience in many jurisdictions, and ability quickly to understand and present complex arguments, has proved particularly effective. He accepts instructions in all areas of employment law but has a particular interest in unfair dismissal, all forms of discrimination and issues involving whistle-blowing.
Cases of particular interest include:
Prison mutiny: leading prosecuting counsel in 15-handed mutiny at Exeter prison;
Murder: R v Restivo the ‘hair in the hand murder’. Defending a man with a hair fetish who was charged with the sadistic murder of a woman in Bournemouth as well as a murder in Italy. The case involved proving the Italian murder as ‘bad character’ evidence in the trial.
Murder (mercy killing): instructed by CPS Headquarters to prosecute an allegation of the killing by her husband of his terminally ill wife;
Indecent assault: instructed to defend allegations of indecent assault committed by an osteopath in the course of treatment;
Acid attack: instructed to defend in an allegation of a revenge attack using concentrated sulphuric acid to cause permanent disfigurement;
Multiple historic familial abuse: instructed as leading junior in a case of sexual abuse of four children by the father over many years;
Soliciting to murder: prosecuting counsel in an allegation that a husband plotted to kill his wife. The case involved complex issues involving covert surveillance and the interception of telecommunications.
Public Access:
Stephen Mooney is licensed to accept work under the Public Access rules and undertakes such work in the regulatory, disciplinary and inquest areas of his practice. Click here for further details about the Public Access scheme.
Recommendations:
“deals with cases very professionally and likes to roll his sleeves up and get stuck in.”
Chambers and Partners 2012
“routinely handles very complex cases”
Legal 500 2011
“provides a consistently high-quality service”
Chambers and Partners 2011
“Pairs a forceful presence in court with a down-to-earth and straightforward approach with clients.”
Chambers and Partners 2010
“a determined and forceful advocate in high-end crime who presents a complicated case in a simple way to the jury”
Legal 500 2010
“A tenacious performer who is well liked by solicitors and clients”
“a good team worker who retains a solid profile”
“Enjoys the confidence of the market”
Chambers and Partners
“Highly rated”
Legal 500
Albion Chambers, Broad Street, Bristol BS1 1DR
T: 0117 927 2144
F: 0117 926 2569
stephen.mooney@albionchambers.co.uk
Clerk: Bonnie Colbeck
T 0117 311 0301
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