Sarah Regan

Degree:

LLB (Hons) University of West

Year of call and Inn:

2000; Lincoln's Inn

Professional Membership:

Western Circuit, CBA

Email:

sarah.regan@albionchambers.co.uk

Specialist Areas:

Crime, including Courts Martial

Practice Overview:

A specialist in criminal law, Sarah has an established practice in both prosecution and defence work, often prosecuting as a sole and leading junior in cases defended by Queen’s Counsel. She is a CPS Grade 4 Prosecutor, a member of the Specialist Rape and Serious Crime Group Panels and is regularly briefed on behalf of the Complex Casework Unit.

Sarah specialises in cases of serious sexual and violent assault and those involving victims of domestic abuse, although she has substantial experience of the full range of criminal offences including manslaughter and murder. She is regularly briefed in cases with vulnerable, young, or traumatised victims and/or defendants, as well as cases involving witnesses or defendants with severe mental-health and psychological issues.

She has substantial experience of cases requiring special measures to assist one of the parties, including the use of intermediaries and applications for anonymity or for evidence to be given from a remote location. She is regularly requested to advise on issues of fitness to plead and stand trial, as well as the availability of the defence of insanity and other mental health defences. She has a respected practice prosecuting public officials for misconduct such as police and prison officers.

Sarah has an interest in cases involving novel and complex issues of disclosure and has substantial experience of cases involving issues of PII.

Training:

Sarah has lectured on advocacy on behalf of Lincoln’s Inn and to state-school pupils as a member of the Bar Council’s Speakers for Justice Project. She advises and lectures police and prosecutors on best practice in respect of vulnerable witnesses. She has acted as a mentor for undergraduate and BTPC students at UWE, is a circuit facilitator for delivering training in respect of vulnerable witness and is the head of the Albion Chambers Crime Team.

Publications:

The Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology 2009

The Times – Tuesday, 14 March 2000: "Dining at the Inns – Other Views"

As the editor of the Crime Team Newsletter, Sarah regularly provides articles for that as well as E-Bulletins on authorities/cases of interest as they arise.

Reported Cases:

Mills and 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 justice's decision to accept jurisdiction);

R v Martin Stanley Greenman (2005) EWCA Crim 1935 (failure to correctly sum up the facts);

R v Pronick (2006) EWCA 2517 (the admissibility of bad character evidence);

R v Peter James Knight (2007) EWCA Crim 3027 (whether a diary which no longer existed by the time of the trial was admissible as support of an allegation);

R v Chall and others (Nigel Brent Wilkinson) (2019) EWCA Crim 865 (leading case on the approach to issues of significant psychological harm when sentencing)