Anthony James

Anthony deals with cases across the spectrum of criminal law both as a junior alone and led junior. Anthony regularly deals with cases of particular seriousness given his level of call and has been praised by judges for his style and approach.

Anthony’s experience of paper-heavy cases and legal knowledge has served him well as a led junior in multiple complex and serious cases in the areas of financial and organised crime.

Notable Crime cases

R v B [2024] Warwick CC

Represented a man of good character charged with rape and attempted rape, aided by a second defendant. Anthony advanced the defence of consent and that the two complainants had contaminated the evidence of each other. Both defendants were acquitted unanimously of all counts after an eight-day trial.

R v M [2024] Sheffield CC

Represented the second defendant in a seven-handed section 18 and violent disorder trial, concerning the orchestrated attack by one family of another.

R v A [2024] Croydon CC

Represented the second defendant in a two-handed fraud trial regarding the purchasing of high-value products with cloned credit cards. Anthony successfully argued that there was no case for his client to answer at half-time.

R v H [2024] Wood Green CC

Successfully represented a client who was acquitted of being the owner of a dog dangerously out of control which killed another dog. Anthony ran the statutory defence that the dog had been in the charge of another at the material time.

R v L [2024] Woolwich CC

Anthony’s client of good character was acquitted of fraud, having used company money to purchase wedding invitations for a colleague.

R v B [2024] Chelmsford CC

Represented the third defendant in a five-handed; five-week trial concerning an international dog fighting ring.

R v M [2024] Woolwich CC

Junior counsel (led by Ben Hargreaves) in a multi-handed case concerning the possession of a Škorpion submachine gun and full magazine.

RSPCA v S [2023] Woolwich CC

Anthony’s client faced 4 counts under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. Anthony successfully stayed proceedings as an abuse of process on the basis that the RSPCA sought to renege on a previous acceptance of lesser pleas.

R v O [2023] Woolwich CC

Represented a defendant accused of the attempted kidnap and affray perpetrated by a group of four to five men. Anthony’s client was the only man charged on the basis of recognition evidence of the alleged victim’s family, who were at the scene. The prosecution offered no evidence following Anthony’s half-time submission, which focussed on the weak and unsupported identification of Anthony’s client.

R v N [2023] Cardiff CC

Operation Red Wezen Two – junior counsel (led by Tom Crowther KC) in a multi-million pound, eight-handed fraud conspiracy involving false claims on the chargeback scheme operated by WorldPay.

R v A [2023] Isleworth CC

Operation Brightly – junior counsel (led by Alexandra Scott) in a multi-million pound money laundering involving the transporting of cash to Dubai.

R v M [2023] Birmingham CC

Represented at trial a defendant charged with robbery and false imprisonment involving a pistol.

R v J [2022] Isleworth CC

Acquittal for a defendant charged with being concerned in the supply of Class A and Class B drugs following a four-day trial. The client was charged on the basis of messages found on a mobile telephone said to the belong to the defendant. Anthony ran a two-fold defence, namely that there was insufficient evidence of the supply of either drug and that the attribution evidence linking the defendant to the device was unreliable.

R v K [2022] Central Criminal Court

Anthony’s client was charged with handling stolen goods. Having taken Anthony’s advice not to give evidence in his defence and following Anthony’s speech, the defendant was unanimously acquitted by the jury.

R v N [2022] Kingston CC

Anthony won a complex legal argument on reverse burdens of proof for an offence which has never before been dealt with in case law. The relevant statute required the defendant ‘to prove a reasonable excuse’. Anthony successfully argued that this express statutory exception should be read down under the Human Rights Act 1998 to impose only an evidential burden and therefore not contravene the defendant’s right to a fair trial under Article 6 of the ECHR.

The Insolvency Service v R [2021] Luton MC

Prosecuted a defendant charged with re-using a prohibited company name under section 216, Insolvency Act 1986.

R v T [2021] Westminster MC

Client charged with possession of an offensive weapon and trespassing into Buckingham Palace.

Coverage
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R v B [2021] Maidstone CC

Secured a suspended sentence for a client charged multiple shoplifting offences and assault occasioning actual bodily harm, described by the judge as ‘at the highest level of ABH, on the cusp of GBH and wounding

R v S [2021] Isleworth CC

Client received a sentence of 16 months’ custody for possession of a razor blade melted into a toothbrush in prison. The sentence was below the starting point for such an offence. The judge was persuaded to grant the client 20% credit for a guilty plea entered on the first day of trial as the client had not had the opportunity to view the CCTV prior to that date.

R v H [2021] Willesden MC

Successfully persuaded the court not to order the destruction of his client’s pitbull. The complex hearing involved the cross-examination of police officers and two canine experts. The client then received a fine for the offence despite significant injuries caused to both humans and dogs at the scene.