Lucy Brown

Lucy defends and prosecutes across a wide range of criminal offences. She is a Grade 3 prosecutor and has experience of defending serious allegations of violence and sexual offences.

Lucy’s background as a solicitor gives her an invaluable insight to the needs and expectations of her professional clients. Lucy prides herself on providing excellent client care to all of her clients and ensuring that they receive the best possible service. She appreciates the importance of making sure all lay clients feel at ease and have the upmost confidence in their representation and she prides herself on offering straightforward and realistic advice.

Lucy has a particular interest in Court Martial proceedings and represents Service Personnel in the Military Courts, as well as in the civilian courts. Most notably, Lucy represented one of the defendants in a trial of 10 army instructors alleged to have systematically abused teenage recruits on a training exercise. All defendants were acquitted. The case attracted significant media attention.

Lucy has extensive experience in dealing with motoring offences, including dangerous and careless driving and excess alcohol cases. She frequently deals with Special Reasons and Exceptional Hardship arguments.

Lucy’s practice includes dealing with Confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Lucy was instructed in 2017 by the CPS to assist in the disclosure review for the current criminal prosecutions arising out of the Hillsborough disaster.

Keen to support those wishing to pursue a career in criminal law, Lucy is often involved with practitioner events at the University of Law. Since 2017 she has presented an annual seminar to criminal litigation students and is in her 3rd year mentoring BTPC students.

Notable Cases

R v Awan [2019] EWCA Crim 1456 – Court of Appeal – Appeal against a Restraining Order imposed by Bradford Crown Court. The appeal was against the length of the Restraining Order and the terms, which had the effect of preventing the appellant from arranging contact with his children. The appeal was successful with the order being limited to 5 years (as opposed to an indefinite order) and a proviso being made to enable child contact arrangements via 2 named third parties. The case featured in CrimeLine Updater 65
R v Battensby [2019] Leeds Crown Court – defence junior to Robin Frieze in a trial involving allegations of sexual abuse against 5 complainants over three decades.
R v Thompson [2019] – Leeds Crown Court – successfully defending an allegation of sexual assault at trial.
R v Ali [2019] – Leeds Crown Court – suspended prison sentence for defendant convicted of sexual assaulting a lone female passenger in his taxi.
R v Kerin [2018] – Bradford Crown Court – Junior to Gillian Batts, defending in a case involving 24 counts of historical sexual abuse by a single defendant, against 7 complainants over a period of 30 years. The defendant was acquitted of all counts.
R v Kettlewell [2018] – Leeds Crown Court – prosecution of a number of allegations including robbery and affray. The defendant was sentenced to a total of 6 years imprisonment.
R v Spencer [2018] – Sheffield Crown Court – prosecuting an allegation of attempted robbery. The defendant was convicted having absconded during the trial. He was sentenced to over 5 years imprisonment.
R v Horsley [2018] – York Crown Court prosecution of a defendant who had stolen from his elderly parents. The complainants died during the course of proceedings and the case was pursued on the basis of hearsay evidence. The defendant was sentenced to 12 months immediate imprisonment.
R v Hussain [2018] – Grimsby Crown Court – Proceeds of Crime proceedings arising out of a cannabis farm on an industrial scale.
R v M Irons & others [2018] – Sheffield Crown Court – representing a defendant in proceedings which lasted over 2 years. The defendant faced an allegation of conspiracy to defraud in relation to the repair and sale of vehicles with false histories and identities. The offences were linked to a large number of burglaries across three police force areas. The case involved a large volume of evidence including cell site analysis. The defendant pleaded guilty on a limited basis and received a suspended sentence.
R v Kamal [2018] – Leeds Crown Court – defending an allegation of racial aggravated assault where the defendant was acquitted after trial.
R v Foley [2017] – Leeds Crown Court – successful challenge to a prosecution application to adduce hearsay evidence from an allegedly fearful complainant, which lead to the acquittal of the defendant.
R v Jackson [2017] – Doncaster Magistrates’ Court – successful defence of a Council employee who was alleged to have assaulted a member of the public whilst working.
R v Fisher [2016] – Sheffield Crown Court – defended in a multi handed violent disorder trial. It concerned clashes between far right and anti-fascist protestors in light of the Rotherham Child Abuse scandal. Mr Fisher was one of three defendants who was acquitted, whilst others were convicted and received custodial sentences. During the case, issues arose about the reporting of an earlier linked case, including the publication of an article in breach of reporting restrictions.
R v Imran [2016] – Leeds Crown Court – successfully defended a taxi driver in an appeal against conviction for sexual assault of a passenger.
R v Cookson [2015] – Sheffield Crown Court – extended sentence imposed for aggravated burglary and two knife point robberies.
R v Zalewski [2015] – Sheffield Crown Court – successful application to dismiss a charge of section 18 wounding.
R v Betteridge & others [2014] – Sheffield Crown Court – defended in multi-handed case of conspiracy to commit shop robberies.
R v G [2012] – Rotherham Magistrates’ Court – successful argument to exclude unlawfully obtained intrusive surveillance footage in a case involving a neighbour dispute.
R v R [2012] – Rotherham Magistrates’ Court – trial of allegations of rape and sexual assault against a 6-year-old victim. The defendant was acquitted of the rape allegations and received a non-custodial sentence for the other offences.

Court Martial Cases

R v Warren [2018] Catterick Military Court – representing a military police officer who faced an allegation of dishonesty, the case was discontinued on the day of trial as a result of representations made to the Service Prosecuting Authority.
R v Thomas and others [2018] Bulford Military Court – defending at trial one of 10 army instructors alleged to have abused teenage recruits during a bayonet training exercise. Cpl Thomas was acquitted before the conclusion of the trial when the Crown reviewed the evidence against him. Link to media coverage: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-43458416
R v Drake & Walder [2009] – Sennelager Military Court Centre, Germany – defending 2 of 4 soldiers charged with affray in a 2-week trial. Both were acquitted. There were a large number of witnesses and significant disclosure issues to deal with during the trial.