Military & Courts Martial

Red Lion Court has acted for service personnel in courts martial, inquiries and other criminal tribunals throughout the UK and overseas, including Germany, Cyprus and other parts of the world where the UK has a military presence.

 

Our experience of representing service personnel spans over twenty years and includes ‘the spy that never was', a TA Captain charged under s.1, Official Secrets Act 1911, represented by Stephen Harvey QC and the Bloody Sunday Inquiry in which Rosamund Horwood-Smart QC and Alex Milne QC represented former soldiers, including a Field Marshal, over a two-and-a-half year period.

 

We also have long-standing legal training links with all three Services. Both the Army and Royal Navy second pupil barristers to us for the majority of their training. One former Naval Pupil, Lt Cdr James Farrant is now a Door Tenant. In turn Red Lion Court acts in an advisory and training capacity. David Etherington QC and Peter Carter QC have been involved in training JAG advocates, and door tenants Professor David Ormerod and Adam Pacifico as well as junior tenant Sarah Lewis, have lectured to the Service Prosecution Authority.

Red Lion Court has members with first-hand military experience. Former Intelligence Corps officer Carys Owen appeared as a led junior in R v M (General Court-Martial, 2007), defending in a 2-month, high-profile, multi-handed weapons-smuggling case from Iraq to Germany, dubbed the “Guns for drugs” case by the press. Her client was acquitted of all charges.

 

Sarah Lewis, who spent 10 months at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst as an officer cadet, appeared in Epsikopi Military Court Centre, Cyprus in March 2011 where, following a 2 week trial, the infantry sergeant she was instructed to represent was acquitted of all charges of ill-treating a private soldier in his platoon.

 

Jenni Dempster recently defended a private soldier against a charge of false imprisonment, leading to a non-custodial sentence. Tom Forster and David Claxton have recently acted for soldiers charged with serious assault and Max Baines and Sarah Lewis have recently represented NCOs charged with fraud and dishonesty offences in Germany.  

 

Red Lion Court is on the Armed Forces Criminal Legal Aid Authority list for defending in Court Martial cases and members practising in the field are affiliated to the Association of Military Court Advocates (AMCA).

 

For greater detail concerning military representation, and to discuss barrister availability, please call Red Lion Court on 020 7520 6000.