Noel Casey is an experienced and versatile practitioner in all areas of criminal law. Having developed a practice based more on defence work in serious cases, in recent years he has maintained an even balance between prosecuting and defending. He has a wide range of experience of trials involving murder, sexual assault, child abuse, serious violence, serious fraud, robbery, firearms and drug trafficking.
He regularly provides advice on grounds of appeal and has appeared in the Court of Appeal on numerous occasions. He routinely provides advice and opinion on all aspects of criminal cases, from culpability through evidential requirements to arguments on admissibility. (He has also advised the Crown on jurisdictional issues regarding a potential manslaughter in France.) He is moreover fully cognisant of issues regarding disclosure, public interest immunity and confiscation. A substantial part of Noel’s practice has involved cases regarding sexual assault and child abuse, and he has acquired significant expertise in trials involving child defendants and/or witnesses, vulnerable witnesses, and cross-examination via video-link.
Although a busy practitioner, in recent years he has invested time in extending his range of activity and qualifications, mainly in the field of international law. In particular, he has undertaken major projects:
Afghanistan:
In 2004, he spent three months in Afghanistan on a pro bono program, working in Kabul and Kandahar, building the country’s first team of public defenders (created under a new constitution and penal code) advising and mentoring the Afghan lawyers, attending court and visiting prisoners, as well as liaising with embassies, the UN and other international organisations.
LLM:
In 2007 and 2008, he took a sabbatical to attend the Benjamin J. Cardozo School of Law in New York City, where he obtained a Masters in Law (LLM) specialising in international and criminal law. As a member of the Human Rights Clinic he co-drafted a study paper for the UN International Expert on Minorities. The paper dealt with the use and manipulation of nationality and citizenship rights in Africa. Noel co-presented the paper at a conference of experts at the UN in Geneva.
On the back of the LLM, he took and passed the New York State Bar Exams.
Cases:
Although he will happily provide on request a detailed summary of his principal cases of the last few years, notable cases have included:
R v O’Neill (2006, Basildon CC): Murder (junior counsel for defence)
R v Sellars and ors (2006, Basildon CC): Murder (junior counsel the prosecution)
R v Abrams (2006, Basildon CC): Bomb hoax (counsel for defence)
R v Gosling (2005, Central Criminal Court): Murder (junior counsel for defence)
R v Bailey (2005, Basildon CC): Murder (junior counsel the defence)
R v Williamson (2005, Southend CC): Attempted Murder (counsel the defence)
R v Sharif (2005, Southend CC): Rape (counsel for defence)
R v Awobiyi (2005, Inner London CC): Rape (counsel for defence)
R v Battie (2004, Ipswich CC): Murder (junior counsel defence)
R v Chambers (2004, Southend CC): Gang rape (junior counsel for prosecution)
R v Ellis (2003, Basildon CC): Child rape (junior counsel for defence)
R v Bigby (2003, Chelmsford CC): Murder (junior counsel for prosecution)
R v Murphy (2003, Leicester CC): Male Rape (junior counsel for defence)
R v Knott (2002, Blackfriars CC): obtaining by deception / conspiracy to defraud HM Treasury Solicitor (counsel for defence)
Reported cases:
R v Rhett Howard [2002] EWCA Crim 218: determined how time on remand was to be counted.
R v Richard Thompson [2005] Cr App R (S): set new guidelines for sentencing in child porn cases.
Publications:
CBA News, 11/05: New High Cost Fee Structures
CBA News, 06/06: Hearsay & the Criminal Justice Act 2003
TV work:
Legal advisor for “Judge John Deed” BBC TV
