Jenni Dempster practises principally in criminal defence. She appears in Crown Courts nationwide, but most frequently in the South Eastern Circuit.
In recent years, she has come to specialise in:
- fraud & corruption
- serious violent crime
- sexual offences
- drug trafficking
- confiscation proceedings
She has particular expertise in cases involving young witnesses & defendants.
She regularly appears in pro bono appeals against conviction and sentence in the Court of Appeal.
In 2001, she attended Glasgow University's Forensic Medicine and Science Diploma Course.
Consistently cited in Chambers and Partners Guide as a "Leader at the Bar" in crime and now also recommended in the Legal 500, she is a highly sought after leading junior.
Some of her recent cases include:
December 2009
R v Scott
Appeared as defence counsel for defendant charged with gunpoint cash-in-transit robbery. Trial involved several expert witnesses - specifically concerned with "Smartwater" contamination, cell-site analysis & DNA patterns.
September 2009
R. v. B (Confiscation Proceedings)
Appeared as counsel for defendant in Confiscation Proceedings involving alleged benefit of c. £1m. Final hearing lasted 5 days and involved cross-examination of two SOCA specialist financial investigators.
June 2009
R. v. Van Leeuwen & Others - "Operation Brushfield"
Appeared as counsel for defendant in large scale heroin trafficking case involving 12 other defendants.
January & February 2009
R v Ahmed
Appeared for first defendant, a restauranteur, charged (along with five others) with kidnapping, false imprisonment & perverting the course of justice. Prosecution alleged he was ring leader in a plan to kidnap two of his waiting staff. Case involved very lengthy cross-examination of both complainants as to substantial discrepancies in their accounts of events as well as their involvement in a credit card skimming operation at the restaurant. Case also involved cross examination of "vehicle tracking" expert. Defendant acquitted of all charges following a 5-week trial.
July 2008
R v. A Defendant
Appeared as leading counsel for alleged serial rapist. Trial involved complex forensic and medical evidence.
February 2008
R v. A Youth & Others
Appearing as junior counsel for 16-year old defendant charged, along with five others, with the murder of Kodjo Yenga in Hammersmith in March 2007.
January 2008
R v. Watkins & Others
Appeared as leading counsel for the defendant in 7-week fraud & corruption trial involving Ministry of Defence contract to build nuclear submarine base at Devonport, Plymouth.
December 2007
R v. Phillips
Appeared as defence counsel for defendant charged with armed robbery of Halifax Building Society where a female customer was held at gunpoint. The case involved a series of expert witnesses as to fibre evidence, cell site & interpretation of DNA evidence.
November 2007
R v. Alexandre & Others
Appeared as leading counsel in large DWP fraud case involving five other defendants.
October 2007 (& retrial November 2008)
R v. Caunter & Others
Appeared as junior defence counsel in nine-week murder trial. Defendant alleged to have reversed Land Rover over his fiancée’s head as she lay on the ground. Complicated expert evidence as to how deceased received fatal head injuries.
August 2007
R v. Okoronkwo
Appeared as defence counsel for female pastor from Nigeria alleged to have entered the UK with a large consignment of cocaine.
May 2007
R v. Watmough & Others (Part of
Operation Devout/Capri MTIC fraud.)
Appeared for defendant charged, along with nine others, with money laundering offences arising out of a multi-million pound VAT fraud.
