Caroline McGurk

Year of call:

2021 (Solicitor 2003)

Education:

1996-1999 - University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, LLB(Hons)Law

1999-2000 - College of Law, York, Legal Practice Course

Career:

2001-2003 - Trainee Court Clerk, Magistrates’ Court Service

2003 - Court Clerk, Magistrates’ Court Service

2003-2005 - Crown Prosecutor, Crown Prosecution Service

2005-2012 - Senior Crown Prosecutor, Crown Prosecution Service

2008 - Higher Court Advocate

2012-2015 - Crown Advocate, Crown Prosecution Service

2015-2021 - Senior Crown Prosecutor, Crown Prosecution Service

2021 - Called to the Bar by the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple

2021 - Tenant at Park Square Barristers

Appointments:

2023 - CPS Level 2 Prosecutor

Memberships:

2021 - North Eastern Circuit

2022 - Criminal Bar Association

Caroline brings to the Bar 18 years’ prosecutorial experience that encompasses the life of a criminal case; from advising the police at the pre-charge stage to prosecuting effective jury trials.  She has prosecuted the full range of criminal offences from speeding to murder, attempted murder, manslaughter and rape.

Caroline qualified as a solicitor in 2003, following the completion of a training contract with the Magistrates’ Courts Service.  She joined the Crown Prosecution Service later that year and spent the first eight years of her prosecutorial career in magistrates’ courts units as a full-time advocate and reviewing lawyer before joining the Crown Court Unit as a Crown Advocate in 2012.  She spent one year as a full time Crown Advocate, prosecuting cases at grade two, before the Unit was re-structured.  She spent the next two years dealing with volume Crown Court case preparation.

In 2015, she reverted to the role of Senior Crown Prosecutor during another re-structure and joined the Allocated Trials Unit.  It was at this point that she began dealing with major investigations, such as murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, drugs related operations and high value frauds.  Caroline’s tenure in the Allocated Trials Unit was dominated by two particular cases in which murder and manslaughter were alleged.  Her handling of those cases, which proceeded to trial despite disclosure issues, led her to her appointment as the Disclosure Lead for the Unit.

She then joined the Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Unit in 2018, where she dealt with numerous rape allegations, including non-recent matters.  Caroline left the Crown Prosecution Service in 2021, at which point she was seconded to an Allocated Trials Unit in the east of England, where she had conduct of of over 130 Crown Court cases.

Notable Cases

R v M 2024 – Represented a woman charged with three counts of assault emergency worker.  The defendant was acquitted after trial.

R v B 2024 – Prosecuted a man accused of carjacking at knifepoint.  The defendant was convicted after trial.

R v S 2023 – Represented a man charged with three counts of non-recent rape and an indecent assault.  Evidence of the defendant’s convictions for rape was adduced against him to demonstrate a propensity to act in the manner alleged.  The defendant was convicted after trial.

R v L 2023 – Represented a man charged with grooming and sexual activity with a child.  The defendant was inconsistent as to his reasonable belief about the age of the child.  Evidence of the defendant’s convictions for possession of IIOC was adduced against him as being relevant to an important matter in issue between the prosecution and the defence.  The defendant was convicted after trial.

R v P 2023 – Represented a youth charged with three counts of rape, one sexual assault by penetration and two sexual assaults on the basis of evidence provided by four complainants.  The youth was ultimately acquitted of all charges except for one sexual assault charge.  He was sentenced to a Youth Rehabilitation Order.

R v W 2023 – Represented an aggravated burglar who was scientifically linked to the scene in blood.  The trial issue was the identity of the burglar.  The defendant’s previous convictions were adduced as evidence against him after he attacked another person’s character.  The defendant was convicted after trial.  The sentencing exercise involved considerations of dangerousness.

R v H 2023 – Represented a man accused of three counts of rape.  The Crown offered no evidence subsequent to applications being filed under the CPIA 1996, s8 and the YJ&CEA 1999, s41.

R v M 2023 – Represented a man accused of non-recent child sexual abuse.  The defendant was acquitted after trial.

FCA Disclosure Counsel November 2021-September 2023

Disclosure counsel for the Financial Conduct Authority in the investigation of a multi-million pound ‘pump and dump’ fraud, involving potential misleading statements to the financial markets and the alleged false inflation of share prices.

Contact Caroline’s clerks

Dan Foulger on 01642 232523

Claire Gibson on 01642 232523

Emma Gibson on 01642 232523