Gurdeep Singh Garcha KC

A very experienced criminal defence specialist who established a reputation as one of the most able and most in-demand criminal juniors on the Midland Circuit and nationally. In 2020 he became the first BAME QC to be appointed at the Birmingham Criminal Bar.
Since taking Silk he has focussed primarily on leading in homicide cases, as well as very serious sex and drugs cases and has further enhanced his reputation.

Prior to his appointment he was instructed in a wide variety of serious cases, covering the entire criminal calendar. He has extensive experience of long, complex, multi-handed drug, money laundering, human trafficking and fraud trials.

He is particularly adept at dealing with sensitive cases, often involving very young or vulnerable defendants or witnesses, or those with mental health difficulties. His mastery of his case and his compassionate manner ensure that he is readily able to secure the confidence of those that he defends.

He also has a significant practice in advising on the merits of an appeal against conviction and sentence in cases in which a defendant has previously been represented by another legal team.

Ranked in Chambers & Partners in consecutive years:

• 2012 entry noted that he is ‘…instructed to deal with complicated, drawn-out cases involving murder and attempted murder, fraud and drugs offences.
• 2013 entry commented on his instruction in a ‘ … a very high-profile murder case arising out of the 2011 riots’, and that he is ‘ … a favourite with prominent local solicitor firms’ .
• 2014 edition – ‘…has a high quality of work …. is sensible and has a good client manner’ 2015 entry – ‘… held in high esteem by solicitors who instruct him in serious criminal cases’, and ‘… he is completely down-to-earth and a safe pair of hands.
• 2016 edition – ‘He is particularly accomplished in his handling of serious sexual offences.’
• 2017 entry – ‘Very effective defence specialist who is highly regarded for his experience representing vulnerable clients. He is frequently engaged in substantial cases concerning organised crime, drugs and homicide.’
• 2018 entry – “Very well respected and highly rated. He is hard-working and very measured”; “He has a very strong work ethic and a great practice. He is a Silk in the making”
• 2019 – Chambers & Partners ranked in Band 1 for Crime. entry – “He is charming both with juries and with the bench. A thoroughly decent opponent.”
• 2020 – Chambers and Partners – “He continues to demonstrate his star quality.”
• 2021 – Chambers and Partners – “Has made a very smooth transition into Silk and is making his mark with a series of outstanding results.”

Recent notable instructions have included:

Sexual offences

• Represented principal defendant in a 27-handed sex abuse case. Very complex, multi-generation, multi-victim family abuse case, involving multiple complainants making allegations against various family members. Over 50,000 pages of evidence, including complex Social Services and Education files and Family Court material.
• Successfully represented Birmingham man charged with 21 counts of rape, involving 5 separate complainants. Defendant cleared of all charges by a jury.
• Represented a man charged with offences of rape and kidnap of an elderly victim, committed 11 days after release from a 10-year sentence for an earlier rape.
• Various cases involving allegations of rape and other sexual offences against adults and children, current and historic.

Drugs & gang-related offences

Successfully represented chart-topping ‘Grime’ artist ‘Safone’ on charges of supplying Class A drugs. A report about the trial from the Birmingham Mail can be found here.
Instructed to represent man charged with attempted murder of rival in street gang dispute.

•  Represented a defendant in a 2-month trial concerning the supply of firearms amongst Birmingham criminal gangs.
• Prosecuted 3 defendants charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent, upon a man wrongly accused of sexual assault on a relative of one of the defendants.
• Junior Counsel for prosecution, 9 defendants charged with offences including attempted murder, arising out of a major riot at a Sikh festival.
• Defence junior; successfully represented member of Birmingham gang charged with four counts of attempted murder following a shooting in a Black Country nightclub.
• Large scale cannabis importation case; represented one of 9 defendants, 3 ½ month trial. Defendant acquitted.
• (Defence) leading junior, large scale conspiracy to supply cocaine, nationally.
• Substantial car ringing conspiracy involving high value German cars.Large scale ‘car key’ conspiracy; involving thefts of high value cars from affluent areas throughout the West Midlands.
• Successfully represented a man charged with prison mutiny arising out of disturbances at H.M.P Birmingham in December 2016. Cleared of all charges following an 8-week trial.

Murder & manslaughter

• Successfully represented 17-year-old charged with gang related “joint enterprise” murder in Aylesbury, following 11-week trial.
• Successfully represented 16-year-old charged with Telford “joint enterprise” gang murder, following 8-week trial. All other defendants convicted.
• Represented a Birmingham man charged with murder of a 3-year-old child. Client cleared of murder following a 6-week trial. Case involved very complex medical evidence.
• Represented Dudley man charged with “drive-by” drug related execution murder of a drug rival.
• Represented Birmingham man charged with murder of his mother and stepfather.
• Represented Wolverhampton youth charged with gang-related murder of a 14-year-old boy. Victim was stabbed over 40 times by four assailants. Complex gang related bad character was at the heart of the case.
• Represented man charged with murder of a businessman. Defendant alleged to have fled to Romania within hours of the offence. Case involved considerable body of evidence from Romania, including alleged cell-confessions.
• Represented a man charged with murder of his 11-year-old niece. Case involved significant psychiatric evidence and attracted national media coverage. Defendant acquitted of murder.
• Represented teenager charged with murder of a rival gang-member. Case attracted significant local publicity because stabbing occurred in broad daylight outside McDonalds in Sutton Coldfield, in full view of CCTV.
• Successfully represented Handsworth man charged with murdering a motorist in what the prosecution described as a ‘deliberate and deadly pursuit’. Client acquitted of murder, manslaughter and two offences of causing GBH with Intent in just 36 minutes following a 14-day trial.
• Successfully represented Dudley teenager cleared of murder and manslaughter of a drug dealer who was stabbed in his own flat. Verdicts followed an 8-week trial.
• Represented a Netherton man charged with murder, alleged that he strangled his partner during the course of an argument. Defendant acquitted of murder.
• Successfully represented man charged with manslaughter, arising out of the death of man who fell to his death from a 3rd floor window. Prosecution case was that 5 men had pursued the victim because of a drugs dispute. Four other defendants convicted.
• Represented a man charged with murder after he stabbed a stranger to death in a Handsworth park. Defendant had very significant mental health issues and had recently been released back into the community, despite protesting that he was still hearing voices in his head; convicted of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
• ‘Single punch’ manslaughter case involving the death of a man following a street altercation.
• Defence junior; represented a man charged with murder of his own mother.
• Defence junior; represented Punjabi woman in her 60’s charged with the murder of her 82-year-old mother-in-law, a case involving a number of sensitive issues surrounding the long term physical and psychological abuse of the defendant by the deceased.
• Junior defence Counsel; a 19-year-old man charged with murder of a rival drug-dealer on Brierley Hill High Street. Defendant acquitted of murder and manslaughter.
• Junior Counsel; represented a 17-year-old charged with attempted murder, a case which raised complex issues of automatism and insanity (R v Coley [2013] EWCA 223).
• Junior Counsel; represented man charged with murder of a fellow passenger on the No 11 bus in Handsworth, Birmingham.
• Junior Counsel; successfully represented an 18-year old woman charged with murdering her 11-day old baby: a case involving complex medical evidence.
• Junior defence Counsel; a woman charged (with her husband and son) with the murder of her lover and disposal of his body.
• Defence junior; represented 16-year-old boy charged with murder, with issue of diminished responsibility.
• Junior Counsel; represented man charged with murder of his partner, upon discovering her relationship with another man. Complex case with no direct evidence against the defendant and in which another man had originally been charged with the same offence.

Terrorism

• Leading counsel for first defendant on indictment in terrorism case involving members of far-right group National Action. Case attracted national publicity. Complex and voluminous evidence (35,000 pages)

Financial crime

• Money laundering on a substantial scale; 6-week trial (defence), arising from the Morecambe Bay cockle picking disaster.
• Large scale ‘tier 1’ visa fraud, successfully represented one of 8 defendants in a 3-month trial.
• Substantial human trafficking / slavery case involving 21 complainants making allegations against various members of a Slovakian family.

Firearms

• Represented 16-year-old youth charged with riot, arson and possession of firearms with intent to endanger life, arising out of the serious public disorder in Birmingham in August 2011.
• Armed robberies – successfully represented a number of defendants charged with organised armed robberies involving bank / building societies / cash in transit vehicles