Adam Western

Adam has a vast amount of experience with murder cases and sexual offence cases. In addition, he has particular experience in dealing with confiscation proceedings, mental health legislation, and matters involving the European Convention on Human Rights.

Murder & manslaughter

• junior defence counsel in the trial in 2022 of an 89 year old retired Worcestershire farmer for the murder of his wife in 1982 and disposal of her body in a septic tank
• defended an Afghan man for assisting his brother to dispose of his wife’s body
• junior defence counsel in the trial of a mother alleged to have murdered her 9-year old son by drowning
• junior defence counsel in the trial of a 23 year old man for the murder of a Birmingham money lender
• prosecuted the trial of a Birmingham woman for the attempted murder of her former husband with a knife, wooden bat and a meat cleaver
• acted as sole defence counsel in the trial of a woman for the murder of an elderly man in Wolverhampton causing the deceased over a hundred separate wounds
• defended in the trial of a former employee of the United Nations for attempting to solicit a former army solider to murder his ex-wife
• defended a Senior Crown Prosecutor for attempted murder
• defended a Coventry man suffering with paranoid schizophrenia for the attempted murder outside a Coventry church of a member of the congregation
• junior defence counsel for a 28 year old man for the murder of his father
• junior prosecution counsel in the trial of three prison custody officers at HMP Rye Hill for the gross negligence manslaughter of an inmate who committed suicide
• junior defence counsel in the trial of an Afghan man for the gross negligence manslaughter of three passengers of a minibus he was driving

Sexual offences:

• prosecuted a former social worker for raping a 14 year old boy in the 1990s who was in the care of social services
• defended in the trial of a young deaf woman for serious sexual assaults of her stepbrother when he was a child
• defended a Malvern school boy for rape of another boy at the school
• defended in the trial of a well-respected Herefordshire vet for historic sexual abuse of a work experience girl at his surgery in the 1970s
• prosecuted the trial of a grandfather for the serious sexual abuse of two of his granddaughters in the 1990s and early 2000s
• defended in the trial of a 26 year old man for the rapes and serious sexual assaults of his brother, nephew and two other boys and who was tried with his parents and other members of this Coventry family
• prosecuted the trial of a Birmingham man for the rape and controlling behaviour of his partner
• prosecuted the trial of a Polish national and UK resident for the serious sexual abuse of his daughter in the UK and France
• junior defence counsel in the trial of a father for rape and the prostitution of his daughter for drugs
• defended a 97 year old man for the serious sexual abuse of his grand-daughter in the 1970s
• defended a deaf man for the rape & serious sexual abuse of his stepdaughter
• defended a Herefordshire gynaecologist for controlling behaviour of his wife

Firearms

• prosecuted a criminal team of three defendants in a conspiracy to burgle 30 homes across Warwickshire & Worcestershire to steal firearms and high value vehicles
• defended in the trial of a Coventry man for the possession of a shortened shot gun and supply of drugs

Road Traffic

• defended a young Herefordshire woman for causing the death of her boyfriend by dangerous driving in a police pursuit
• prosecuted the trial of a West Bromwich taxi driver for causing the death of a 12 year old boy and the serious injury of another 12 year old and his mother by dangerous driving

Drugs and Gang-Related offences

• prosecuted alone the trial of ten defendants for violent disorder in a Birmingham street
• defended a Coventry man for possessing a shortened shotgun in a suspected revenge attack involving rival gangs
• prosecuted a Coventry team for armed robbery and conspiracy to handle high value vehicles
• prosecuted a team of five men for attempted theft of cable and criminal damage which caused serious disruption at a Kent hospital
• prosecuted a ‘County Line’ drugs supply in Worcester operated by defendants from London

Financial crime

• junior counsel in the prosecution of a conspiracy to handle 117 stolen motor vehicles involving seven defendants
• junior defence counsel in the trial of a Worcestershire man for the large scale importation and distribution of veterinary medicines

Sports Law

• represented a tennis coach in an appeal before Sport Resolutions brought by the Lawn Tennis Association against a decision to reinstate his coaching accreditations

Other notable cases

• R v Weldemaryam [2020] EWCA Crim 1616
  The Court of Appeal considered an application for leave to appeal the making of a hybrid order under section 45A Mental Health Act 1983

• R v “FP” & “JP” [2012] EWCA Crim 2292
  Responding to an application for leave to appeal a conviction where the Crown Court trial continued in the first appellant’s absence after he collapsed during cross-examination