Jane Oldfield practises mainly in East Anglia from the Chelmsford annexe, but also appears in all London courts and other courts in the South Eastern circuit. She has wide experience of all areas of criminal work, in the Crown Court, the Magistrates' and Youth Courts and the Court of Appeal.
Areas of experience include:
- Indecent images involving computer analysis
- Serious sexual offences against adults and children, including sexual assault, sexual activity with a child, grooming and brothel-keeping
- Violence, up to and including section 18 GBH and attempted murder, and public order offences – significant experience in sensitive domestic violence cases
- Dishonesty offences, ranging from street robberies and burglaries to Ebay and benefit frauds
- Drugs offences, including large conspiracies and police undercover operations
- Road traffic, from non-imprisonable offences involving technical defences in the magistrates’ courts to serious offences in the Crown Courts
- Confiscation, both under the Criminal Justice Act 1988 and the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 – has conducted several contested hearings and drafted numerous defendant’s responses and skeleton arguments on points of law for the prosecution and the defence
- Arson and other criminal damage offences
Jane also has experience in a number of quasi-criminal areas, for example:
- Extradition, in the magistrates’ court and High Court
- Cash forfeiture
- Prison adjudication
- Inquests
- Town planning and Environmental Planning Act 1990 legislation
Jane has acted in numerous jury trials as well as summary trials and has prosecuted and defended at many different kinds of hearing. Particular hearings and issues Jane has dealt with in the course of her practice include:
- PII and sensitive material
- Mental Health Act disposals
- Defence of duress
- Hearsay and bad character
- Identification
- Trial of issue after determination that the defendant is unfit to plead
- Contested applications to vacate plea
- Questioning of child witnesses
- Questioning of expert witnesses
- Special measures
- Abuse of process
As well as accepting instructions to defend from a number of highly respected firms, Jane has prosecuted on behalf of the Crown Prosecution Service, Revenue & Customs Prosecutions Office, the National Probation Service, the RSPCA, the Department for Works and Pensions and local authorities. She is a Grade 3 Advocate for the Crown Prosecution Service. She has carried out some work on an ad hoc basis for Treasury Solicitors, advised a borough council on prosecution and advised defendants and professional clients on appeal and judicial review.
Jane’s practice includes regularly being led in serious cases, both for the prosecution and the defence. Examples are:
R –v- West (2010): representing a client charged with sexual offences against three generations of family members and with making indecent images. Required spending a day with the Suffolk Police High Tech Crime Unit examining computer evidence.
R v Greensmith (2008), Basildon Crown Court: acting for the prosecution against a defendant charged with allegations of serious historic sexual abuse of four teenage and pre-teenage girls over four decades.
R v Turgott & ors (2008), Kingston Crown Court: successfully representing one of the defendants in a large drugs conspiracy involving the supply of cocaine in the Essex area. Conducted research for opposition to a bad character application, examination of mobile phone records and questioning of witnesses.
R v Nicklen, Rudkin & Carr (2007-2008), Basildon Crown Court: prosecuting a conspiracy to defraud – identity fraud involving approximately 100 separate stolen identities and proceeds in excess of £150,000. All three defendants pleaded guilty. Involved in preparing schedules and drafting sentencing opening note.
Cases of note
R –v- T (2010): Acting for the defendant in a child cruelty case in which the client had traits of an abnormal personality. The case received national media coverage.
R –v- Brazil (2010): Defending a young man charged with confidence fraud of an elderly lady with Alzheimers. Opposed an application by the prosecution to admit the hearsay comments of the complainant to her daughter-in-law which were the only evidence of false representations. Cut-throat defence.
R –v- Gahadza (2010): Acting for the prosecution in the trial of a defendant charged with importing 4kg of cocaine.
R –v- Howe (2010): Successfully opposing a defence application to exclude identification evidence under s.78 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. Resulted in the defendant pleading guilty.
R –v- Watts (2009): Represented the defendant in an aggravated burglary trial in which identity was in issue and the defendant did not give evidence.
R –v- Khan (2008): Defending in a complicated confiscation hearing which involved legal argument on benefit and a contested hearing on the defendant’s available amount. Questions of proprietary interests (resulting trusts) and tracing arose. Successfully appealed confiscation order to the Court of Appeal on the basis of incorrect determination of benefit.
R v Morton (2008): Appeared for the defence in an interlocutory hearing on whether a defence expert on low copy DNA was obligated to sign a strict confidentiality agreement before the Forensic Science Service would release disclosable confidential material necessary for the defence expert’s investigations. Successfully argued that adherence to the framework set out in the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 for confidential information was sufficient.
2000-2004 – Vacation work at commercial solicitors’ firms Linklaters & Alliance and Simmons & Simmons, at KPMG and at the Financial Services Authority
2002 - BA (Hons) French and Spanish, Oxon.
2003 - Commendation in Graduate Diploma in Law / Common Professional Examination from City University
2004 – Very competent in Bar Vocational Course from Inns of Court School of Law
Awarded scholarships by Middle Temple for both the CPE and BVC years
2004 - Called to the Bar, Middle Temple
Essex Bar Mess
South Eastern Circuit
Criminal Bar Association
Inquest Lawyers Group
Extradition Lawyers’ Association
Jane is also fluent in French and Spanish.
