Ranked in The Legal 500 (2025) for Crime.
Glenn Parsons has a predominantly criminal practice. He defends or prosecutes in serious multi-defendant cases, including murder, rape, armed robbery and fraud. Glenn has both prosecuted and defended in sex cases that were subject to the s.28 pre-recorded cross- examination procedures which were trialed at Leeds Crown court and which will now be rolled out nationwide. He is therefore very experienced in the principles and procedures that apply and in particular, to formulating questioning in line with the protocols. He is also experienced in defending or prosecuting in proceeds of crime proceedings.
“‘Glenn is hugely charismatic. The quality of his advocacy on his feet is as smooth as silk; he has the ability to completely captivate the court with his presence. His confidence and magnetism draws the court and the jury in.’ The Legal 500 (2025)
“Glenn quickly establishes a good relationship with clients. His advocacy in front of a jury is a sight to see and powerfully persuasive.” – The Legal 500 (2024)
“A sound and solid practitioner who has the ability to be empathetic but also robust when it is required.” – The Legal 500 (2023)
“He has a remarkable ability to digest voluminous amounts of evidence with a precise eye for detail. He also possesses a fantastic ability to command the respect of the court.“ – The Legal 500 (2022)
Notable cases
- R v W 2024 – Successfully represented defendant’s in a long running care home trial. The prosecution case was brought against directors, managers and care workers within two care homes, linked to the deaths of five residents in 2016 and 2017. The case against the two defendant care workers represented by members of chambers alleged that they had wilfully neglected the residents in their care with charges brought under the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015. During the trial listing, issues relating to significant disclosure failings on behalf of the Crown led to further skeleton arguments and applications from defence counsel which resulted in the prosecution being forced to undertake a comprehensive review of the case.
- R v Goodhall and others- Murder Trial – Led Junior defending, Byron Goodhall, one of 5 men tried for 8 weeks at Manchester Crown Square, for offences that arose when 2 rival groups from Huddersfield clashed at the Manchester Caribbean Carnival in August 2022. It was the prosecution case that this was gang warfare and that on the night in question, Goodhall and at least 4 other men, some armed with bladed weapons, travelled from Huddersfield to Manchester where they were confronted by at least 4 other men from Huddersfield, some carrying firearms. This group shot live ammunition at Goodhall’s group and members of that group including Goodhall were alleged to have chased down one of the rival gang members, Javell Morgan, who was stabbed through the back with a machete and died at the scene. 2 members of Goodhall’s group were convicted of Murder and in a separate trial, members of the opposing group were convicted of charges of Attempted murder and firearms offences. The case required the detailed analysis of many hours of street CCTV footage together with a comprehensive understanding of the supreme court case of R v Jogee [2016] UKSC 8 concerning the principles of ‘joint-enterprise’ . It was also successfully argued, following consideration of the leading case of R v Heslop and Others [2022] 2 Cr. App. R.20, that the evidence of gang affiliation, which the prosecution applied to put before the jury, was inadmissible. For media coverage click here
- R v – J-R – Representing 1 of 6 defendants tried at Leeds Crown Court in one of the first cases of its kind. All the defendants were members of ‘Predator Exposure’ or ‘Net Justice’, internet based groups that were dedicated to exposing online paedophiles. Members of the groups posing as under-age children would be targeted by online groomers and child sex-offenders. The groups would then record the online chat and confront the perpetrators in person, in what they termed as ‘stings’ either at their homes or in public places, streaming the event live on Facebook while detaining the suspects until the police arrived. West Yorkshire police brought proceedings against the groups on the basis that these detentions were unnecessary and were unlawful and therefore amounted to offences of False Imprisonment and Assault. Each defendant relied on their rights to make citizens arrests pursuant to s.24A of PACE 1984, on the basis that the police had failed to take action in the past when alerted to the illegal online activity of the offenders and therefore, the groups had no choice but to put the suspects under arrest themselves in order to force the police to act. The jury took 8 hours to acquit all the defendants following an 8 day trial. For media coverage, please click here
- R v Nicholas Gill – Led junior – successfully prosecuted 21 year old Nicholas Gill at Bradford Crown Court, for the murder of a 58 year old man as he returned home from a night out. The prosecution alleged that Gill had seen that Paul Bell was slightly unsteady on his feet as he entered an archway just yards from his home at 9pm on 30th September 2018. Gill approached him and attempted to rob him at knife-point however, Mr Bell refused to hand over any money and was then attacked and knocked to the ground suffering head fractures and a bleed on his brain. Matters were complicated by the fact that Mr Bell told passersby when found in the street, that he had simply fallen over after a man had tried to rob him with a knife. Thereafter, Mr Bell fell into a coma and died 54 days later. Gill denied all the charges and stated that Bell had attacked him with bottle. However, detailed expert blood and pathology evidence was adduced by the crown to link Gill to the scene, the assaults and the murder. Gill was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 21 years. For media coverage, please click here.
- R v JC and Others (Operation Fencestoke) – Defending 1 of 11 defendants charged in connection with an organised crime group that were responsible for large-scale conspiracies to distribute Cannabis and Cocaine across the country and who also conspired to launder the proceeds. Over £300,000 worth of Class A drugs and £400,000 in cash were seized during a lengthy police surveillance operation which also uncovered 2 substantial Cannabis factories. The prosecution also relied on cell-site and phone co-location evidence to plot the movements of the conspirators. The case against JC was that he was a courier who was allegedly seen by surveillance officers driving a red Transit van later found to contain £68,000 worth of almost pure Cocaine, across Leeds. Officers tried to intercept the drugs in transit however, the van was driven dangerously in order to evade capture and was later found abandoned but with the drugs still in situ. JC was the only defendant to be acquitted of all charges, following a 5 week trial at Leeds Crown court. Sentences ranging from 15-20 years were handed down to the main players.
- R v M & M – defending a mother who was tried along with her husband in respect of allegations of causing Grievous Bodily Harm to their neonatal twins, who were 12 weeks old at the time. 1 twin had fractures to the ribs, a lacerated liver and injuries to the skin in the mouth. The other twin had fractures to the ankle, long bone of the leg and both wrists. The case involved cross-examining a number of pediatricians and other medical experts who were relied on by the crown to refute suggestions that the injuries were genetic or caused by accident or illness. The mother was acquitted of s.18 and s.20 but was convicted of Child Cruelty along with her husband, following a 3 weeks trial at Leeds Crown Court.
- R v H– concerned an allegation of rape against a student at Pontefract College, who it was alleged had raped a fellow student, in her own home. The complainant alleged that the act occurred during a free period when she and the defendant had gone from college to her house in order to pick up the defendant’s hoodie. The complainant further alleged that once at the house, she became heavily intoxicated and that the defendant had taken advantage of her. The defendant denied that anything sexual had occurred, despite the presence of his DNA in her underwear ,which he claimed was from a previous consensual sexual encounter, 2 weeks before the incident now alleged. The case therefore relied heavily on the various interpretations of the forensic evidence and required detailed cross-examination of the prosecution medical and forensic experts.
- R v M – Successfully defended a father accused of a campaign of rape against his daughter that was alleged to have taken place in Ghana, Italy, London and Leeds over a 6 year period. The defendant faced 11 specimen and specific counts and was tried over 3 weeks at Leeds Crown Court, in a case that was conducted entirely through interpreters in the defendant’s native language of Twi and was alleged to involve voodoo curses and forced abortions. Video-links were arranged by the defence to allow defence witnesses to give evidence from the United States and Accra in Ghana. The jury deliberated for nearly 9 hours and the defendant was acquitted of all charges.
- R v Rewcroft– Led Junior successfully defending a father charged with the murder of his daughter’s boyfriend. It was the prosecution case that the defendant had attended at the deceased home address armed with a knife and attacked him, causing 56 stab wounds, from which he later died. The prosecution alleged that this was a premeditated attack that was borne out of revenge. It was the defence case that the deceased was both drunk and aggressive and that the defendant had tried to calm him down, whereupon the deceased attacked the defendant and the defendant lost his self control. The defendant was acquitted of murder and convicted of manslaughter, by a majority.
- R v S – Successfully defended a man charged with Rape, Attempted Rape and the Sexual Assault of a lone female in the Queens Gardens area of Hull. The case involved the detailed analysis of CCTV footage from local nightclubs and Hull City Council street cameras. The defendant was acquitted of all charges.
- R v B – Successfully defended a man charged with counts of Sexual Assault on a lone female in Scarborough. The case involved the detailed analysis of CCTV footage from local public houses and Scarborough Council street cameras. The defendant was acquitted of all charges
- R v CB – Counsel defended and mitigated in a case of causing Death by Careless Driving Whilst Unfit through Drink or Drugs. The defendant pleaded Guilty to causing the death of his close friend who was the passenger in his car that crashed as the defendant drove them home from a music festival. The case was notable because the defendant’s toxicology readings were amongst the highest ever recorded in the United Kingdom. The case involved the analysis and understanding of toxicology and post mortem records. Counsel mitigated on behalf of the defendant and obtained a jail sentence reduced to 2 years custody.
- R v Blair Carpenter and Others – Prosecuting 9 defendants all charged with violent disorder and some further charged with s.18 wounding, arising from a large-scale disturbance which took place on the streets of Bradford city centre.
- R v Webb, Richards and Others – Junior counsel for 1 of 7 defendants tried for the murder of 4 people in a house fire in Leicester. The case was so notorious that it could not be tried at Leicester Crown Court and had to be moved to Nottingham.
- R v Smith and Others – Representing a client in a murder trial at Cambridge Crown Court where the defendant was charged with assisting an offender following the murder of an elderly man by the defendant’s son and nephew in a house burglary that went wrong. The investigation received substantial media publicity and was the subject of a full reconstruction on the BBC Crimewatch programme.
- R v Bozorgi – Representing a defendant charged with importing Class-A drugs into the UK form Iran. The defendant was Iranian by birth and would visit the country regularly, sometimes sending cars from the UK to Iran and sometimes importing cars into the UK from Iran. A convertible car, stopped by police at Dover having been imported from Iran, was found to contain £40,000 worth of heroin.
- R v Beard – Representing one of 6 men charged with conspiracy to supply Class-A drugs on the streets of York.
- R v Garland – Defending a man charged with the stranger-rape of a victim on the towpath of the Leeds-Liverpool canal.
- R v Coates – Defending a client tried for assisting an offender along with 2 other defendants charged with murder. The prosecution alleged that the client washed the blood off the clothing of her ex-partner, who was one of the 2 co-defendants charged with murder.
Articles – Glenn Parsons writes in Counsel Magazine on the tools required to increase diversity at the Bar
https://www.counselmagazine.co.uk/articles/recruitment-retention-promotion
Contact Glenn’s clerks
Andrew Thornton on 0113 213 5202
Rebecca Wilson on 0113 213 5203