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Rachel Brand KC and Naomi Nelson-Cofie prosecute delivery driver for offence of murder

A delivery driver, from West Bromwich, has been jailed for 29 years following a two-week trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court in which Rachel Brand KC and Naomi Nelson-Cofie prosecuted, whilst Gurdeep Garcha KC and Justin Jarmola defended. 

 

The Defendant was convicted of murder after seeking the services of the victim, a sex worker at the time, near Soho Road, Handsworth, before driving her to a quiet back street and attacking her in the rear cabin of his work van. The victim was left with substantial facial injuries before being strangled and left on the pavement. Before leaving the scene the Defendant poured AdBlue on the body, an additive used in diesel engines, in an attempt to prevent any scientific link to himself. 

 

A substantial amount of CCTV footage was gathered from various parts of Handsworth, Smethwick, and West Bromwich, showing details of the Defendant’s movements that evening. Both visual and audio footage clearly demonstrated the attack and deposit of the body in Woodburn Road. 

 

This case attracted national media coverage: 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9d32j5q8n2o 

 

Rachel Brand KC and Naomi Nelson-Cofie were instructed by CPS West Midlands. Gurdeep Garcha KC and Justin Jarmola were instructed by 1 Law Solicitors.

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Witness Familiarisation Support And Courses

These are a few examples of courses in which our members have been involved:

  • Witness familiarisation with trainee police officers and special constables from Northamptonshire Police, where the officers were questioned regarding their statements about ‘mock’ arrest exercises
  • Similar exercises with detectives from the West Midlands Police
  • Witness familiarisation with officers of the Northamptonshire Probation Service.  These officers were given training on the process of giving evidence in sentencing hearings in the Magistrates Court and Crown Court
  • Expert witness familiarisation and training, with expert witnesses such as independent Forensic Scientists, and officers of the Health and Safety Executive. The exercises involved questioning regarding expert reports prepared by the participants

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We operate an equal opportunity policy and act in accordance with the Bar Code of Conduct and the Equality Code for the Bar.

 

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Uniquely (to our knowledge) we offer direct financial support to members returning from parental leave in order to cushion the cash flow impact of return to practice . 

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