Narinder Sekhon

Year of call:

2000

Education:

LLB (Hons) Law

Bar Vocational Course (Manchester)

Narinder Sekhon’s practice reflects a mixture of criminal matters, and he undertakes both prosecution and defence work.  Throughout his career, Narinder has acquired specialised knowledge of matters involving cell-site analysis involving mobile-phone technology, scrutinising forensic accounts, DNA evidence, and analysing specialist medical reports. Often it is through his persistence in ensuring the proper service of prosecution disclosure that dismantles the heart of the prosecutions case.

Narinder’s practice is exclusively serious crime and invariably acts as leading counsel due to the complexities of the matters in which he is instructed. Many of his cases have a cross border dimension and he is always willing to assist his instructing solicitors in retrieving evidence from foreign jurisdictions. Narinder has an underlying passion to ensure fairness is delivered and has a reputation for pursuing this both at first instance and at a higher level.  Many of his cases have attracted media publicity.

“Winning legal arguments is his forte… Mr Sekhon fights tooth and nail for his clients…. A closing-speech specialist.”

Notable cases

    • Operation Paperpond – Secured the only acquittal in a Multi-handed allegation to commit murder. The killing took place at a flat in Bradford. The deceased died as a result of injuries he sustained following an assault upon him. After that assault, whilst he was dying his body was dragged through and out of the flat by the accused. The moving of the body in that way was the prosecution’s contention an attempt to remove a link between the person or persons responsible for the fatal assault upon the victim.
    • Operation Panberry – Mr Sekhon defended in an ‘Election day Murder’. The deceased in this case had been stabbed in the neck following an altercation (drugs related) outside the Premier stores News Agents, Dewsbury Road, Beeston, Leeds. This is a highly populated residential area, where there were several business premises facing onto a busy arterial road.
    • R v Greene – Secured the only acquittal in Multi-handed conspiracy involving Wilful Neglect. The deceased had been awarded the Queen’s Gallantry Medal for rescuing people during the Bradford City fire of 1995.
    • Operation Orchard – Multi-handed conspiracy involving drugs, firearms and ammunition.
    • R v Hoque – Secured an acquittal in a Multi-handed conspiracy in which non-halal turkey meat was dishonestly sold and labeled to give the appearance of halal boneless lamb. A ‘cut throat’ defence which attracted daily media coverage.
    • R v Haynes – Successfully defended the accused (first on the indictment) in what was described as a ‘gangland style’ attempted murder and possession of firearms with intent to endanger life.
    • R v Young – Successfully argued (in the absence if instructed QC) the exclusion of evidence (on grounds of unfairness) the crown sought to heavily rely upon. The case attracted significant media interest as it was a drug ‘turf war’ shooting in a highly populated part of Birmingham.
    • R v Butoy (Operation Elder)– Secured an acquittal in a ‘Milti Million Pound’ immigration fraud involving the creating and using of false documents, perverting the course of justice, and assisting unlawful immigration by providing the illegal supply of labour to conglomerate, multi-national and corporate organisations.
    • R v Egan (Operation Ogun) – Large scale operation involving millions of pounds of criminal money generated from highly organised, conveyor-belt prostitution on a commercial scale.
    • R v Kandola (Operation Albatros) – A drugs gang headed by a mastermind who ran the plot from prison (despite his illness) and recruited a self-taught chemist to set up a lab to make the highly addictive drug crystal meth. The case was likened in the Sun and Daily Mirror newspapers to the US TV show ‘Breaking Bad’.
    • R v Sembhi (Operation Calzone) – large scale drugs dealing operation involving supply across Lancashire, East Midlands and Northamptonshire. 77-year-old defendant suffering from Mental disorder and cognitive impairment.
    • R v Hafeez – Child-grooming and sexual activity with a child under the age of 16. Mr Sekhon secured the only acquittal in a 6-handed, 12-count case.
    • R v B Samra – A ‘cash for crash’ fraud involving 50 defendants concerning bogus claims for personal injuries caused in staged car accidents.
    • R v Akbar – Sham marriage case involving women acting as brides from Eastern Europe flown to Islamabad for bogus weddings with men who could then apply to live in the UK under European open border laws.
    • R v Margaret Brewer & Others – Large scale violent disorder and unlawful wounding case involving the use of knuckledusters and knives.
    • R v Ozkan Duyan (Operation Untangle) – Involving large scale, multimillion-pound commercial importation of class A drugs from Holland.
    • R v Akhtar – Mr Sekhon successfully defended his client who was accused of a brutal marital rape. The case involved scrutinising the immigration rules on indefinite leave to remain.
    • R v A Khan – The case concerned over 200 stolen cars which were cut down into individual parts and taken out of the UK to countries like Jordan and Afghanistan.
    • R v Arif – Involving a transatlantic gun smuggling operation. The gang imported glock 26 pistols and semi-automatic guns concealed within electrical equipment. They were indicted with possessing firearms with intent to endanger life and the importation of firearms. Mr Sekhon successfully argued against the imposition of indeterminate prison sentences.
    • R v Z Mir – (Operation Erasure) – Only one to be acquitted after a trial in a £120million MTIC fraud (carousel fraud).
    • R v Rizvi – Acquittal in a multimillion-pound money laundering operation involving well known chains of restaurants across Yorkshire.
    • R v V Singh – Acquittal in a people-trafficking case. The allegations were human trafficking, ill, inhumane and degrading treatment, slave labour, force, deception, threats and exploitation.
    • R v Mahay – Large scale fraud against high street banks across West Yorkshire. It was alleged that employees of the banks had conspired with others in which to deprive high net worth customers of their savings. Mahay was the only defendant not to receive a prison sentence having argued the defence of ‘Duress’ through her trial.
    • R v Khan – Instructed on one of the first terror crimes to be tried in the country. The case involved possessing articles for a purpose connected with terrorism.
    • R v Hussain – Secured an acquittal in an attempted Murder in a revenge shooting by defendants whom it was described ‘thought they were untouchable and could intimidate or buy their way out of any situation’.
    • R v Khan – Successfully defended the conspiracy to commit murder and threats to kill of a 25-year-old man that was attacked by a gang as he played football with his friends.

Contact Narinder’s clerks

Andrew Thornton on 0113 213 5202

Gina Hawkins on 0113 213 5205

Rebecca Wilson on 0113 213 5203

Hannah Dempsey on 0113 213 5211

Lucy Finney on 0113 213 5220