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Murder Case Studies
2025 – R v B: Manchester Crown Court
This was a tragic and very unusual case. In 2016, the defendant pleaded guilty to the wounding of his brother in a freak incident where he inflicted a single stab wound to the brother’s neck which severed the spinal cord and left the victim paralysed from the neck down. The client was sentenced to a 4-year sentence.
Some 8 years later the victim died from illnesses which the pathologist stated were caused by the injuries inflicted by our client in 2016. Despite extensive medical investigations and expert reports, the findings concluded that the victim died because his disability, caused by our client’s actions in 2016, left him unable to fight the illness. He therefore pleaded guilty to the offence of manslaughter. Despite having already served his sentence for the same incident, the Judge sentenced him to a further 28 months imprisonment for manslaughter.
Paralysed man dies six years after brother stabbed him in neck on Christmas Day – The Mirror
2025 - R v R: Liverpool Crown Court
Olliers represented one of four defendants who stood trial at Liverpool Crown Court in January and February 2025 before Mr Justice Goss. The defendants were all former contractors of a company engaged to provide customer services support across the Metrolink in Greater Manchester from 2011 onwards.
They were charged with manslaughter, and our client faced an additional charge of perverting the course of justice. The manslaughter charges related to an incident involving a member of the public who was followed off the Metrolink platform and station; following a pursuit he was then restrained by the staff about a mile away in central Manchester.
This was an extremely complex case involving multiple experts in respect of causation, as well as health and safety and general common law considerations relating to the lawfulness of the detention and the control and restraint techniques that may have been used.
Our client was acquitted of both counts which was clearly the best possible outcome for him and he was very grateful for the work done on his behalf and the advice provided throughout.
Instructed counsel were Fiona Horlick KC and Rosalind Emsley-Smith Tram worker will not face retrial over man’s death.
2025 - Bristol Crown Court/Court of Appeal: Conviction for manslaughter quashed
Representation of a neurodivergent juvenile defendant in a multi-handed murder case. The client was only 16 at the time of the allegation and presented with complex communication needs. The case demanded meticulous preparation, an in-depth understanding of neurodiversity within the criminal justice system and careful management of the sensitive issues arising from joint enterprise.
Our client was initially convicted of manslaughter which had a profound impact on him due to his age and vulnerabilities. We advised there were strong grounds to appeal. The Court of Appeal ultimately agreed and quashed the conviction, ordering a retrial.
In the lead‑up to the retrial, our team undertook extensive further preparation, including renewed expert evidence, detailed legal analysis and sustained engagement with the prosecution. Ultimately, the Crown offered no evidence, leading to our client’s full acquittal and his release after almost two years in custody.
2024 - Operation Sandpiper: Manchester Crown Court
This was a high-profile murder case following the death of Kennie Carter in Stretford. Our client was one of 10 defendants charged with joint enterprise murder. At the time of the incident, he was 15 but turned 18 during the course of the trial and was named at its conclusion. This case resulted in a not guilty verdict on Murder but guilty to manslaughter presumably on the basis that the jury believed our client’s conduct whilst unlawful fell short of that required for joint enterprise murder in that there was no evidence he encouraged the assailant with the intention that he kill or cause really serious injury to the deceased.
John Cannan 2024 - 2001
Representation of John Cannan prime suspect in relation to disappearance of Fulham estate agent Suzy Lamplugh in 1986. This is one of the country’s most high profile missing person cases. Suzy Lamplugh went missing on 28 July 1986 after leaving her office to meet a client that she referred to as ‘Mr Kipper’. She was never seen again. Cannan had been a suspect shortly after the disappearance and when the investigation was reopened in 2001, Olliers were instructed. Following an investigation lasting over a year a decision was made by the CPS not to prosecute Cannan.
The decision was not welcomed by the police who were critical of the CPS and took the step of naming Cannan. This led to us holding a press conference on behalf of our client in which it was stressed that any involvement in her disappearance had always been denied and continued to be denied. For the next 22 years John Cannan was repeatedly linked with Suzy Lamplugh’s disappearance right up to his death in 2024.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/lamplugh-suspect-says-police-acted-wrongly-604386.html
Police spell out Lamplugh blunders | UK news | The Guardian
Lamplugh case falters with inability to charge suspect | Suzy Lamplugh | The Guardian
2023 – Operation Perth: Liverpool Crown Court
We represented a client in what was a very high profile and tragic murder case involving the death of a young woman in her home who was shot with an automatic weapon due to a drug dispute involving her boyfriend.
Our client was said to be the driver of the gunman. His role, the prosecution said, was a foot soldier, and that he must have shared the intention of the gunman to kill or cause really serious harm to the victim without pulling the trigger himself. The defendant’s case was that at the time of the shooting he was at home with his family and both parents were called to provide alibi evidence.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-england-merseyside-67488774
2023 – Operation Pavecrest: Leeds Crown Court
This was a highly unusual case. In 2011 a man disappeared. His body was found some 10 years later in a wooded area near to Halifax. A witness came forward to describe how the victim had been tortured before being stabbed to death. Our client was said to have been involved in the murder whilst not actually inflicting the fatal stab wound himself.
2023 – R v S: Manchester Crown Cout
In 2023 we represented a juvenile defendant accused of the murder of a 17-year-old. The entire incident was captured on ring doorbell/CCTV footage. Our client was just 16 and presented a defence that he accepted inflicting the stab wounds in defence of his friend who was fighting with the deceased at the time.
2021 - Operation Denmark: Carlise Crown Court
Our client was the girlfriend of a man wanted for the murder of another in a pub in Carlisle. Our client assisted the defendant to purchase a change of clothes and items intended to conceal his identity and she also helped him leave the country. She pleaded guilty to the offence of assisting an offender (murder) and received a short custodial sentence which was reduced further on appeal.
Pair who helped Carlisle murderers flee have sentences increased – GOV.UK
2021 – R v K: Old Bailey
Our client was a woman in her 70s. She was charged with the murder of a drug dealer in South London along with her two sons. Before the trial took place, her charge was reduced from murder to one of perverting the course of justice in that it was alleged she assisted her son in attempting to dispose of (by burning) the body of the deceased. The trial lasted some weeks at the Old Bailey and she was convicted of that offence. Her son eventually pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
2019 - R v Molnar: Manchester Crown Court
2019 R v M acquittal of teenager facing allegation of the murder of his friend, Manchester Grammar School pupil Yousef Makki. Our client faced an allegation that he murdered his friend by stabbing him, an allegation denied on the basis of self defence. Acquittal July 2019.
Yousef Makki: Boy’s stab death unlawful, new inquest concludes – BBC News
2017 – Operation Troop: Manchester Crown Court
This involved the murder of Abdul Hafidah in a gang related Moss Side murder.
Our client was a 15-year-old boy who had learning disabilities. He was charged with murder by joint enterprise in that he was part of the group who chased and killed the victim but there was no suggestion he has inflicted any violence on the victim, so it was for the jury to decide his role.
He was found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter. He received a relatively short custodial sentence which reflected his age, his disability and role.
Abdul Hafidah murder: Gang sentenced for Moss Side killing – BBC News
2016 - Operation Reactor: Chester Crown Court
The defendant was charged with the murder of a man who was having an affair with his wife. The unusual nature of this case was that the assault on the victim left him with a small cut which was treated in hospital. The client was arrested for GBH but the victim did not wish to take matters further. Unfortunately, the cut became infected and the victim sadly died of sepsis two days later. The defendant was charged with murder.
The trial took place at Chester Crown Court. The defence case was that he believed the victim to be a burglar. He struck the man during the course of a struggle. He had no intention to cause really serious harm. The jury found the defendant not guilty of murder but convicted him of manslaughter. He received a sentence of 7 years.
2013 - R v James: Preston Crown Court
2013 Acquittal of client charged with murder alongside police killer Dale Cregan. Our client, MJ was alleged to have assisted in the killing of Mark Short, acting as a spotter in the build up to his murder at the Cotton Tree Inn in Droylsden.
Dale Cregan trial: Guilty verdicts in trial of police killer and others – BBC News
2009 - R v Amos: Manchester Crown Court
2009 representation of Gooch gang leader facing allegation of murder following the shooting of Tyrone Gilbert at a wake of gang member Ucal Chin who had been excecuted only six weeks earlier. This was one of many cases of murder in which the firm acted during the so-called ‘Gunchester’ era involving serious gang violence and the use of firearms during the 1990s and early millenium.
BBC NEWS | England | Manchester | Gangsters jailed for wake murder
2003 - R v Burgess: Preston Crown Court
2003 Acquittal of defendant DB alleged to have been a member of a Stockport gang involved in the kidnap and murder of small time drug dealer David Barnshaw in 1999. The allegation was that Barnshaw was kidnapped, beaten and forced to drink petrol before being set alight. The trial was halted when it emerged that Greater Manchester police officers had failed to act on and withheld information about other potential suspects.
Judge criticises police as murder trial collapses | UK news | The Guardian
1998 - R v Swarray: Minshull Street Crown Court
Acquittal of defendant facing attempt murder allegation following gangland shooting of rival gang member Jason Jonas on Bonfire Night 1997. It was alleged that Swarray was a member of the Gooch Gang and that the victim was a member of rival Doddington Gang.
Two men cleared of gangland-style shooting on a man’s doorstep | Messenger Newspapers
1997 - R v G: Manchester Crown Court
Representation of TV repair man convicted of butchering his wife and sister in law as police officers waited outside his premises. Officer had been waiting outside the front of the property as the defendant attacked the victims at the rear of the property.
WIFE AND SIS KILLED AS COPS KEEP WATCH. – Free Online Library
1997 - R v Playle: Liverpool Crown Court
Representation of hit man in Lancashire contract killing. Defendant and accomplice, armed with handguns with silencers, went to victim’s luxury secluded, on the night of March 5, 1992. They kept his daughter, who was in the house alone, prisoner for two hours until her father, the victim, and the family returned home. Upon his return the victim was executed.
Falklands veteran found guilty of murder | The Bolton News
Contract killers get life jail terms | The Independent | The Independent
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