Jacob Edwards

Practice
Jacob practices in both prosecution and defence work in London and across the South Eastern and Western circuits.  He has appeared in all types of criminal cases, as well as in prison adjudications and extradition hearings.  He also routinely undertakes confiscation work.  Jacob regularly prosecutes and defends in the Crown Court, as well as in the magistrates’ court and youth court, and has appeared in the Court of Appeal. 

Jacob has gained particular experience of handling young witnesses and defendants, both as prosecuting and defence counsel.  He has been involved in several cases involving particularly sensitive allegations where he has effectively cross-examined young witnesses, and represented the interests of young defendants.

Jacob has been involved in the full range of criminal cases, including cases involving serious violence, sexual offences and drugs offences, as well as dishonesty offences including fraud, burglary, and theft.  He has represented clients suffering from mental health difficulties, and dealt with psychiatric issues and issue of fitness to plea.

Relevant Experience
Before coming to the bar, Jacob spent several months as an intern for the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre.  He is also involved with the anti-death penalty charity Reprieve, and assists in legal research for death row cases in the USA.

Notable Cases

Court of Appeal

R v SR [2011] EWCA Crim 1109
Appealed the sentence of a defendant who pleaded guilty to Escape, Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm and Criminal Damage.  Jacob’s representation of the appellant was specifically praised by Mr Justice Davis during the course of the judgment.

R v Ojara [2009] EWCA Crim 1563
Successfully appealed the sentence of a defendant who pleaded guilty to Possession of Class A drugs with Intent to Supply.  Mr Justice Cranston, in giving the court’s judgment, observed that “[w]e have been persuaded by Mr Edwards that the starting point…is too high.”

Crown Court

R v L, Snaresbrook Crown Court
Represented an eighteen-year-old man charged with Unlawful Wounding after setting a fifteen-year-old girl’s hair alight.  A suspended sentence was ultimately secured.  This case was reported in the Evening Standard.

1. Evening Standard
2. Romford Recorder

R v T, Blackfriars Crown Court
Represented a vulnerable defendant with mental health difficulties who was charged with burglary and theft from a close friend.  A psychiatric report was obtained and it was successfully argued that the defendant’s police interview should be excluded.  The count of burglary was dismissed upon a submission of no case to answer.

R v B, Blackfriars Crown Court
Represented a defendant charged with Conspriacy to Steal after being accused of being involved with a large number of pick-pocketing incidents on the London Underground over several different dates.

R v C, Cambridge Crown Court
Prosecuted three defendants charged with Conspiracy to Defraud resulting from their participation in a “skimming” operation where they obtained bank card details from innocent members of the public.

R v D, Croydon Crown Court
Secured acquittals on counts of Dangerous Driving and Driving Whilst Disqualified for a defendant who was accused of being involved in a high-speed police chase resulting in a serious accident.  Two police officers gave evidence that the defendant was driving the vehicle.

R v T, Peterborough Crown Court
Secured an acquittal for a defendant charged with burglary whose fingerprints were found at the point of entry and who ran a defence contrary to the account he had given in interview.

R v R, Snaresbrook Crown Court
Successfully defendant a client charged with Possession of a Bladed Article after successfully applying to exclude evidence from police officers obtained contrary to the PACE Codes of Practice.

R v A, Wood Green Crown Court
Represented a defendant charged with Witness Intimidation and an aggravated Dangerous Dogs act offence.  Pleas were ultimately entered on a basis that resulted in a £500 fine, and a suspended order of destruction against the defendant’s dog was secured.

R v F, Basildon Crown Court
Represented a 25-year-old defendant charged with Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm who maintained he had acted in self-defence against the 61-year-old complainant.  The case was dismissed after two juries failed to reach a verdict.

R v B, Snaresbrook Crown Court
Represented a defendant in confiscation proceedings following his conviction for participating in several armed robberies of cash-in-transit vans.

Magstrates’ Court and Youth Court

R v P, Peterborough Youth Court
Successfully defended a man charged with Sexual Touching of a Child.  This case involved the cross-examination of four child witnesses who all claimed to have seen the incident.

R v C, Fareham Youth Court
Represented a seventeen-year-old boy charged with committing lewd acts on two separate occasions in front of a group of children.  Three positive identifications were made.  Following the cross-examination of four ten-year-old witnesses, a successful submission of no case to answer was made in respect of both charges.

R v C, Cambridge Youth Court
Prosecuted a fourteen-year-old boy for the sexual touching of a seven-year-old.

R v H, Harrow Youth Court
Successfully ran a defence of duress in a case of Cannabis Cultivation.

R v W, Haringey Youth Court
Successfully argued an abuse of process on behalf a youth charged with an assault at school where a police officer had failed to obtain relevant evidence.

R v D, City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court
Represented a defendant initially charged as part of a seven-handed affray allegation to be tried at Southwark Crown Court.  The prosecution’s attempt to amend the charge at the last-minute was successfully resisted, resulting in all charges being dismissed.

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