Artboard 2
0121 233 8500

Adam Western secures 20-month sentence reduction in the Court of Appeal Criminal Division

The Court of Appeal Criminal Division has reduced the sentence on a Worcester man by 20 months following a successful appeal by Adam Western. 

 

Ben Woodland was sentenced in the Crown Court in February to 8 years 3 months’ custody for causing death by dangerous driving. At a hearing on 12th November 2026, Lord Justice Males sitting with Mrs Justice Cutts and The Recorder of Leeds quashed this sentence and imposed a sentence of 6 years 7 months’ custody. 

 

Adam successfully argued that the original sentence was manifestly excessive because the facts of the case did not justify sentencing outside the Sentencing Council guideline for causing death by dangerous driving.

 

Adam was instructed in the Crown Court by Sarah Brady of Lister Brady solicitors in Worcester: https://listerbrady.co.uk/about-us/our-people/

 

For more about the case, see: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cde4nrx0z8no

Downloads

  • Download Link 01
  • Download Link 02
  • Download Link 03
  • Download Link 04
  • Download Link 05
  • Download Link 06

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

Equal Opportunity Policy

 

Citadel’s members come from a range of backgrounds and everyone is treated with the same respect as part of our Chamber’s community. 

 

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

 

We seek to prevent direct or indirect discrimination towards our clients, staff, tenants and pupils, on the grounds of race, colour, ethnic or national origin, nationality or citizenship, political persuasion, religion, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, disability or age.

Maternity / Paternity Policy

We support all members  who  are fortunate enough to become parents.   Whilst Citadel has written policies dealing with issues of maternity and paternity leave for members of Chambers and support staff, we also try to be flexible in our approach and to accommodate individual needs.

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 . 

Click here to listen to a podcast about our members with children and how we deal with childcare issues.