Call: 1997

Stephen Requena was called to the Bar in 1997, having graduated from the London School of Economics with a first class degree in Law.

He is a versatile advocate who defends and prosecutes with equal success, whether as leading counsel or as a led or unled junior. He is instructed in cases of all levels of seriousness including murder, rape, armed robbery, blackmail, major drug conspiracies, firearms, money laundering and large-scale fraud offences. Many of his cases have had a high public profile while others have involved extremely sensitive PII and Human Rights Act issues. He is very experienced in trials involving the use of special measures and has drawn praise from the Bench for his cross-examination of vulnerable witnesses.

He was recently led in the Bloody Sunday Inquiry where he was part of the team instructed by the Treasury Solicitor to represent one of the soldiers alleged to have fired fatal shots – Soldier L – and others. As well as having cross-examined witnesses he was tasked with analysing and scheduling tens of thousands of pages of evidence. He has subsequently been briefed in many other cases of great factual complexity and welcomes similar instructions in the future.

Recent Cases

So far in 2010, Stephen has successfully defended a builder accused of defrauding an elderly lady of over £30,000 and is presently instructed for the defence in a case concerning the alleged supply of a firearm to undercover police officers. Alongside other defence work, current prosecution briefs include two for the Fraud Prosecution Service, each involving allegations of offences netting many millions of pounds. He has also been briefed to advise the Department For Business, Innovation and Skills.

In 2009 Stephen successfully prosecuted a number of serious cases, including a kidnapping and the historical sexual abuse of two young boys by the father of one of the children. He was led by Sally-Ann Hales of Chambers at Croydon Crown Court in R. v. Naseem, the prosecution of a man who defrauded a number of banks of several millions of pounds and whose defence was that he was insane at the time. Stephen was also briefed for the Crown in the prosecution of a man alleged to have sexually assaulted a child of four years of age and appeared for the defence in a variety of serious matters involving allegations of fraud, possession of a loaded firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence and others of similar gravity.

In 2008 at Snaresbrook Crown Court he successfully defended a locally renowned artist and teacher accused of having committed sexual offences against the daughter of one of his students. Other defence briefs during 2008 involved allegations of rape, s. 18, conspiracy to rob, conspiracy to steal, counterfeiting and money laundering. Prosecution cases included matters of conspiracy to rob, heroin importation, false imprisonment and arson with intent.

Stephen has also recently been developing his private practice prosecuting regulatory and trading standards offences for local authorities and other bodies. In 2010 he was briefed to advise the Department For Business, Innovation and Skills (formerly the DTI) on the first criminal prosecutions to be brought under the End-of-Life Vehicles (Producer Responsibility) Regulations 2005. He is also experienced in defending regulatory and environmental cases.

Other recent cases of note:

Operation Mill City, Wood Green Crown Court, May 2008
Stephen was leading counsel for the Crown in the prosecution of three defendants accused of conspiring to commit a large number of cash-in-transit robberies. All three defendants were convicted and subsequent confiscation proceedings successfully concluded.

Operation Wolf, Ipswich Crown Court, 2006 - 2008
Junior for the prosecution in this complex drugs conspiracy and money laundering case which involved 13 defendants on the main Indictment as well as a number of other defendants in satellite cases; some of these he conducted unled, as well as a number of pre- and post-trial applications and sentencing hearings. Stephen was also led in appeals against conviction resulting from these proceedings.

R. v. Smith, Basildon Crown Court, Nov. 2006
In this murder case he was led for the prosecution and successfully conducted a number of legal arguments – including a crucial hearsay application concerning a statement made by the deceased – against Leading Queen’s Counsel for the defence.

R. v. Kisanga and others, Central Criminal Court, May 2005
Led by Anthony Berry QC for the defence in this attempted murder case which involved allegations of violence and cruelty against an 8 year old child suspected by the defendants of being possessed by witchcraft. The case was factually complex – involving a great deal of expert evidence relating to religious and cultural beliefs – and was conducted in the glare of intense national media interest. Ms Kisanga was convicted but in due course Stephen successfully conducted the appeal against her sentence in the Court of Appeal ([2006] EWCA Crim 749).

R. v. Solomka and others, Kings Lynn Crown Court, Jan. - Feb. 2005
In this multi-handed case Stephen was led for the Norfolk CPS in what was the largest gangmaster conspiracy case prosecuted in England and Wales. The trial attracted a great deal of local and national press interest. He drafted the prosecution Case Summary which was subsequently used almost unchanged in opening this complex case to the jury. He also successfully represented the Crown single-handedly in pre-trial hearings concerning severance and dismissal and in post-trial hearings dealing with confiscation and sentencing.

Experience in Higher Courts

Stephen is experienced in the conduct of appeals against conviction and sentence as well as Attorney-General’s References in the Court of Appeal.

In addition to those appeals already mentioned he has successfully conducted a number of others, including R. v. Hajaig [2005] EWCA Crim 3344. The latter case involved a UK citizen of Middle Eastern origin who had obtained a false passport in order to enter the U.S.A. to take flying lessons. He was discovered by the authorities in the wake of 9/11 and treated by the F.B.I. as a ‘person of interest’ before fleeing to the U.K. where he was arrested and prosecuted. The appellant was a highly intelligent, professional man of previous good character whose family had faced very hostile public reaction to the case. The appeal against his sentence was successful.

See also:
R. v Normanton (Jai) [2003] EWCA Crim 959, The Times 21/7/03 (and cited in Archbold), a leading case on sentencing in road rage cases. Stephen was commended by Mr Justice Gross in his judgement for his ‘excellent submissions’. The sentence was reduced.

R. v O’Brian and Enkel [2000] 2 Cr.App.R.(S.) 358, The Times 19/11/00, a leading case in sentencing under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Sentences of imprisonment were overturned in the appeal.

Books and articles

He was recently asked to write a chapter for inclusion in an Oxford University Press book, Terrorism Law. He has also written and presented part of Chambers’ seminar on the Serious and Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, dealing with the disclosure notice provisions.

Miscellaneous

Having formerly pursued a career as an actor and writer, Stephen maintains a keen interest in the arts and has regularly advised on TV legal dramas such as Judge John Deed. He speaks conversational French and some Spanish.