WILLIAM HARBAGE QC

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WILLIAM HARBAGE QC
Call: 1983
Silk: 2003
William Harbage QC, joint Head of Chambers, is a highly regarded advocate
specialising in criminal and regulatory law.
In crime, he undertakes both prosecution and defence work in roughly equal
measure. William’s practice is mainly in cases of homicide; he has built up a
particular expertise in cases with a medical or nursing element. His practice
extends to all heavyweight and white collar crime including cybercrime, fraud,
money-laundering, confiscation, misconduct in public office, terrorism, kidnapping
and armed robbery. He is known for his thorough and conscientious approach.
“ William Harbage QC, who led for the defence in R v Norris, the complex ‘insulin
injection murder’ trial ... is expert in cases involving complex medical, scientific and
mental health issues”. (Legal 500)
In regulatory law, his cases have involved Trading Standards, professional and
sports disciplinary hearings, and the marketing of prescription medicines. He sits
as Chairman of the Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority, the selfregulatory arm of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry and as an
Appeal Panel Chairman for the Rugby Football Union.
He is registered to accept Direct Access clients and is also a door tenant at 37 Park
Square, Leeds.
Memberships:
Middle Temple
Criminal Bar Association
British Association of Sports Lawyers
CEDR.
A Recorder since 1999.
Mediator accredited by CEDR.
Notable cases include:
William Harbage QC
CV April 2014
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CRIMINAL LAW
Murder
R v Norris (Newcastle) Led for defence in complex case of nurse accused of murdering a
number of elderly women on his ward by injecting them with insulin so causing hypoglycaemic coma and death. 450,000 pages of evidence. 5 month trial. 19 expert medical
witnesses for the Crown; 11 for the defence. Issues involving hospital, ward, controlled
drugs, doctor and nurse procedures, drug action and alternative causes of death.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1580651
R v Anxiang Du (Northampton) Led for prosecution in high profile case in which Du
murdered an entire family of Chines origin, parents and two school-age girls, by stabbing
them all to death in their own home. Revenge attack following the loss of extensive and
acrimonious civil litigation. Defences run of diminished responsibility and loss of control.
Extensive cross-examination of leading psychiatrist. Debate on sentence re Vinter v UK
and A3 ECHR over compliance of UK whole life tariffs with European law.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-25133851
R v Murugamoorthy (Old Bailey) Led for defence of husband, jointly charged with wife,
with murdering their baby. Complex medical and toxicological issues including SIDS.
Multiple expert medical witnesses on both sides.
R v Dunkley (Leicester) Led for prosecution of man who murdered a paraplegic former
boxer of international renown (Sean ‘The Guv’nor’ Cummins), dismembered and cut up the
body with a chain saw, and stored the 10 body parts in freezers. Complex issues re
determination of cause of death.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-22437507
R v Parker (Hull) Reported as R v Clinton, Parker, & Evans [2012] EWCA Crim 2. Led for
defence of husband who stabbed his wife. First case under the new law of ‘Loss of
Control’. Now lead Court of Appeal guideline case.
R v Jones & Ors (St.Albans) Led for prosecution of 4 defendants. Ruthless gangland
abduction and execution. Extensive telephone evidence, cell site analysis and CCTV
image comparisons.
R v AWM (Nottingham) Led for defence of 13 year old girl charged with murder.
Youngest female charged with murder since Mary Bell in 1968. 1 of 7 charged with killing
disabled man. Issues re joint enterprise in murder, use of intermediaries, and how the
court should cope with such a young defendant.
R v Nudds (Northampton) Led for prosecution. Murder of traveller. Deceased shot,
dismembered and burned so that no remains ever recovered. Telephone evidence, cell
site analysis, blood staining, cell confession evidence. PII issues.
R v Musone (Northampton) [2007] EWCA Crim 1237. Led for defence of one of 3 prison
inmates accused of murdering a 4th. Classic cut-throat defences. Lead Court of Appeal
case on admissibility of hearsay evidence.
William Harbage QC
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R v McMullan (Hull) Led for defence of man charged with stabbing pregnant woman to
death in street. Total strangers to each other. Diminished responsibility; “voices” told him
to do it.
R v Ashby (Northampton) Led for prosecution of man who stabbed wife to death.
Defence ran Diminished Responsibility by reason of Alcohol Dependency Syndrome.
R v Sanchez (Bury St.Edmunds) Led for defence of US serviceman charged with
attempted murder of total stranger. No dispute re primary facts. Successful defence of
insane automatism resulting in absolute discharge.
R v Brown (Leeds) Led for defence of 1 of 4 men charged with murder of another.
Classic issues of joint enterprise in murder where one of the 4 had a weapon and others
did not.
R v Griffiths (Sheffield) Led for defence of 1 of 5 men charged with murder, conspiracy to
supply drugs and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice by dismembering the body
and concealing body parts. Issues re covert surveillance, telephone evidence, cell site
analysis, and joint enterprise in murder.
R v Allitt (RCJ) Represented notorious child murderer in relation to the correct tariff to be
imposed under new life sentence regulations.
Cybercrime
R v Ackroyd (Southwark) Led for defence. A and three others accused of ‘cybercrime’
offences against the Computer Misuse Act 1999. They communicated via internet chat
rooms, operated as ‘Lulzsec’, an off-shoot of the well known ‘Anonymous’ group, and
hacked into and launched DDoS attacks on large organisations such as the FBI, CIA, the
Pentagon, SOCA, NHS, Sony, etc. Complex issues included FBI involvement, agents
provocateurs, disclosure, reliability of chat room identities and IP addresses.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/may/16/lulzsec-hacking-fbi-jail
Financial/ white collar crime - fraud, money laundering & confiscation
R v VS (CCC) Briefed to lead for defence of a Sun journalist accused of conspiracy to
commit misconduct in public office by paying a serving police officer for information. Part
of Operation Elveden.
R v JHL & Others (Cambridge) Led for prosecution in huge case of rogue traders
charged with conspiracy to defraud and money-laundering offences. 17 defendants, over
100 victims, fraud of over £1M. Fraudsters preyed on the elderly and vulnerable by
tricking them into believing they needed extensive roof repairs and charging them
extortionate amounts for little if any work. Over £1/4M actually recovered pursuant to
PoCA proceedings. [See also ‘Regulatory’ below.]
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-20309929
www.cambridge-news.co.uk/News/Rogue-traders
R v Entwistle (Northampton) Led for defence of County Council officer charged with
money-laundering, forgery and misconduct in public office in relation to a £1/2 million
contract for the refurbishment of travellers’ sites using grant money from the Office of the
William Harbage QC
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Deputy Prime Minister. Issues re abuse of process, mens rea in forgery, cover up in the
council and the extent of the offence of misconduct in public office.
R v Speechley (Sheffield) [2004] EWCA Crim 3607. Led for defence of elected Leader of
County Council charged with misconduct in public office by diverting the route of a new
multi-million pound road around his land to increase its value from agricultural to
development land. Issues re abuse of process, right of jury to stop a case, scope of the
offence of misconduct in public office. Subsequent appeal was the first ever to be
recorded for television in the UK under a pilot scheme.
R v Dalgarno & others (Leicester) For defence of city councillor charged with corruption.
Allegation of accepting back-handers given in exchange for influencing the planning
authority of which he was a member.
Drugs
R v Ververgaert (Leeds) Led for defence of Dutch national charged with huge scale
importation of heroin, cannabis and amphetamines worth £millions from Holland to UK.
Evidence from Dutch and UK police. Issues re tip-off and PII material, and confiscation of
assets.
R v Thornley (Lincoln) Defence of man charged with importing heroin worth £millions
from continental Europe into UK. Issues re surveillance evidence and confication of
assets.
Terrorism
R v Worrell (Grimsby) Led for defence of white neo-Nazi supremacist charged with
offences under the Terrorism Act 2000 and racially aggravated public order offences.
Defendant in possession of bomb-making material for use in improvised explosive devices.
Other crime
R v Hewgill (Birmingham) Led for defence of man charged with conspiracy to kidnap.
Issue re evidence of undercover police officer, covert tape recordings, and use of
telephone intercept evidence from Switzerland.
R v Ahmed & Bashir (Sheffield) Led for prosecution of serving police officer and another
accused of conspiracy to make a false statutory declaration. Complex PII issues.
R v X & Others (Nottingham) Led for prosecution in case involving multiple armed
robberies of supermarket premises across the Midlands by a gang of defendants.
Extensive telephone evidence, cell site analysis, and CCTV comparisons.
R v S & Others (Norwich) Defence of 1 of a gang from the Midlands charged with series
of armed robberies of Post Offices in East Anglia.
Rape, sexual offences & child cruelty
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R v Lamont (Cambridge) Led for prosecution in case of multiple rapes and assault by
domineering man against vulnerable younger partners. Complex issues of bad character
and cross-admissibility.
R v Bowman (Huntingdon) Led for defence of older man of impeccable character and
standing in the community charged with sexual assaults against teenage girls.
R v Carragher & Others (Sheffield) Led for prosecution in trial of 5 defendants charged
with historic, institutional sexual and physical abuse of vulnerable children in a Roman
Catholic Children’s Home 20-30 years earlier. Rape, buggery, etc.
R v Mair, R v Litlewood, R v Brizzalari (Grimsby) Led for prosecution in 3 separate trials
relating to historic, systematic sexual abuse of vulnerable children in Roman Catholic
Children’s Home 20-30 years earlier. Rape, buggery, etc. Brizzalari [2004] EWCA Crim
310 reported re adverse inferences from failure to mention facts in interview later relied on
in court - s34 CJPOA 1994.
R v Emmanuel-Blake (Peteborough) Defence in case of parents charged with child
cruelty offences. Both Baptist Fundamentalists who believed in “spare the rod spoil the
child”.
R v Moody & Moody (Nottingham) Led for prosecution of parents charged with cruelty
towards a child who later died. Child found locked in faeces covered room.
Driving
R v Marsters (Lincoln) Defence of Porsche driver charged with causing death by
dangerous driving. Pedestrian knocked down and killed by driver of another car said to be
racing with Porsche.
Publications
Podcasts (www.CPDcast.com )
“Loss of Control” William Harbage QC, David Herbert, Felicity Gerry
“The Reformed Defence of Diminished Responsibility” William Harbage QC, Felicity Gerry
Articles
“Loss of Control” William Harbage QC, David Herbert & Felicity Gerry
CBQ Criminal Bar Quarterly Issue 1 Spring 2011
REGULATORY
Regulatory - Sports
Member of Chambers Sports Law team appointed to the general section of the London
2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games pro bono Legal Advice and Representation
Service.
Rugby Football Union Appeals Panel Chairman since 2010 and continuing. The
O’Leary, Maidstone and Belgrave cases below are representative of the cases heard.
William Harbage QC
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Tomas O’Leary v RFU. Irish international scrum half banned for stamp to the head of
player at bottom of ruck in Aviva Premiership match London Irish v Wasps.
Maidstone RUFC V RFU. Chairing Appeal Panel which rejected Maidstone’s appeal.
Awful case of eye-gouging causing permanent loss of sight in one eye. Player accused
but acquitted after Panel of first instance found that offender must have been a Maidstone
player but could not say which one. First time RFU brought proceedings against a club as
being responsible for the actions of its unidentified player on the field.
Oakham RFC V Belgrave RFC. Case involved allegations of racist abuse by one player
against another by making ‘monkey noises and gestures’. Case proved and player
banned for lengthy period.
Regulatory - Pharmaceutical
Chairman of the Appeals Board of the Prescription Medicines Code of Practice
Authority, which is the self-regulatory arm of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical
Industry, for 8 years since 2006 and continuing. See www.pmcpa.org.uk for link to
completed cases. The following are representative cases.
MHRA V Grunenthal Auth/2327/6/10
Re promotion of an unlicensed medicine, Tapentadol, to health professionals.
Pharmacist v Boehringer Ingelheim Auth/2448/10/11
Complaint about a stroke prevention leavepiece for Pradaxa and the conduct of a
company representative.
Anonymous v Novo Nordisk Auth/2470/1/12
Re hospitality given by company in breach of Code.
Lead Pharmacist v Meda Auth/2488/3/12
Re promotion of EpiPen adrenaline auto-injectors.
Muslim Affairs Specialist v ProStrakan Auth/2481/2/12
Re whether Adcal-D3 caplets could properly be promoted as ‘halal’
Regulatory - other
R v JHL & Others (Cambridge) Led for prosecution brought by Trading Standards against
a large gang of defendants systematically targeting and defrauding vulnerable and elderly
householders across East Anglia by suggesting that they needed work done on their roof.
Offences against the Consumer Protection Regulations, conspiracy to defraud, moneylaundering. [See ‘Financial/white collar crime’ above.]
R v Mandell (Lincoln) Appeared for defence of a builder/developer charged with offences
against the Town & Country Planning Act by exceeding permissions given in Listed
Building Consent.
Watermead SSL v Aylesbury VDC (Aylesbury) Represented client served with noise
abatement notice. Client operated a water sports centre involving the use of ski boats and
jet-skis; neighbouring residents complained about noise.
William Harbage QC
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Personal
Age 54. Married with 3 children in 20s. Lives Rutland.
Interests
Walking the dog; playing golf and tennis; armchair enthusiast all sports; foodie.
Contacts
A
36 Bedford Row
London WC1R 4JH
T
F
E
W
DX
+44 (0)207 421 8000
+44 (0)207 421 8035
[email protected]
www.36bedfordrow.co.uk
360 LDE
William Harbage QC
CV April 2014
7 pages

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