Practice Profile. Areas of Expertise. Barristers Mediators Arbitrators ( 0 ) Bedford Row, London, WC1R 4JH

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1 Areas of Expertise Crime including Appeals Cybercrime Fraud and Business Crime Homicide and Related Grave Offences Restraint and Confiscation Serious and Organised Crime Serious Sexual Offences Simon Ash Call: 1999 Barrister Contact Telephone: Practice Profile Simon Ash's practise consists principally of prosecuting cases involving serious and organized crime including homicide, fraud, human trafficking, drug trafficking, armed robbery, and serious sexual offences. He is known for his thorough case preparation, good judgment and persuasive advocacy. His effectiveness is reflected in the high rate of success achieved in the trials he deals with. He is often instructed for his ability to deal with cases involving difficult factual or legal issues, and for his experience of cases that require sensitive handling. He has dealt with several cases, in both the Crown Court and the Court of Appeal, against Queen's Counsel. He has experience of prosecuting cases, alone and as a leading junior, involving a large number of defendants. He has dealt with a number of high profile cases that have attracted national media coverage. He is on the CPS Level 4 Panel and the Rape Panel. His practise involves a significant amount of work for the Complex Casework Unit. His experience in the Court of Appeal includes persuading the Court to quash convictions for rape (R v K [2011] EWCA Crim 1006) and fraud (R v I [2012 EWCA Crim 217). In R v W, Times, March 30, 2011 he represented the Appellant in an appeal against conviction for penetration of a child under 13. Thomas LJ paid 'special tribute' to the way he had dealt with the case and said that he had "argued the matter with conspicuous economy and clarity". 1

2 Notable Cases Homicide and Serious Offences Against the Person R v G (2018) - Prosecution Controlling or coercive behaviour. The defendant started a relationship with a woman who had three young children. He moved into her house after a short time. His behaviour was persistently controlling, aggressive, threatening, and violent. He prevented the victim from having contact with her friends and he kept her bank card. He was verbally abusive on an ongoing basis and made her feel worthless. He assaulted her repeatedly. He told her to kill herself several times. After five months she committed suicide by hanging herself. The defendant was convicted after a trial that lasted for two weeks. He was sentenced to four years and three months imprisonment. The case attracted national media coverage. R v H and four others (2018) - Prosecution Manslaughter, false imprisonment, and perverting the course of justice. Instructed by the Complex Casework Unit. Led by a QC. The defendants were the targets of a black money fraud. The deceased was part of a group that carried out the fraud. The defendants held him hostage in a factory in Leicester while the black money deal was being carried out. When the defendants realised they had been tricked they assaulted the deceased, who collapsed. He subsequently died of mechanical asphyxiation. The defendants moved his body to a nearby car park and disposed of his phone and the CCTV system from the factory. The defendants were convicted after a trial that lasted for seven weeks. The leading defendants were sentenced to 13 years imprisonment. R v R (2017) Prosecution HIV transfer causing grievous bodily harm. The defendant, knowing he had HIV, had engaged in sexual relationships with two men without telling them he had the virus. He transmitted HIV to them. The case involved expert virology evidence concerning the similarity between the strains of HIV found in the blood of the defendant and in the blood of the complainants. The defendant was convicted on both counts. He was sentenced to seven years imprisonment. The case attracted national media coverage. R v B (2017) Prosecution Causing death by dangerous driving. The defendant fell asleep at the wheel and veered across the road into the path of an oncoming car. The driver of that car was killed as a result of the collision. The defendant had been deprived of sleep during the days leading to the collision and knew that he was not in a fit state to drive. Defendant was convicted. R v M (2017) Prosecution Causing grievous bodily harm. Advised on a case in which the defendant was charged with causing grievous bodily harm to a baby aged two months. Prosecution case was that the defendant was responsible for causing non-accidental rib fractures. 2

3 R v H (2016) - Prosecution Attempted murder. The defendant went to the home of his ex-partner with a large hunting-type knife and attacked her new partner. During the preceding weeks, the defendant had sent a series of threatening messages to the victim. The defendant tried to stab the victim repeatedly to the chest, neck, and head, inflicting several stab wounds to his arm. After a struggle, the victim started to run away and the defendant stabbed him in the back, puncturing his lung and causing it to collapse. The victim was rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries. The defendant was convicted of wounding with intent and having an offensive weapon. He was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment. R v M and three others (2016) - Prosecution (led by QC) Attempted murder and possession of criminal property. Members of a rival criminal gang carried out a drive-by shooting at the home of one of the defendants. Twenty minutes later, three of the defendants carried out a revenge shooting. An innocent member of the public sitting in a car was wrongly identified as one of those responsible for the first shooting. The defendants attacked him with a knife and a bar and then shot at him from close range. The bullet narrowly missed him and the defendants fled as others approached. The police found 200,000 in cash at the home of the principal defendant. The fourth defendant was charged with possessing criminal property in respect of this cash. All four defendants were convicted. The defendants who carried out the shooting were each sentenced to life imprisonment. R v G (2016) - Prosecution Causing death by careless driving. The defendant, aged 87, hit a cyclist from behind, killing him instantly. The defendant did not stop at the scene. He was identified later. The deceased was a man with a young family who worked for a charity for young people with learning disabilities. The defendant showed limited remorse. He was convicted. R v B (2015) - Prosecution Attempted murder. The defendant, in separate incidents, attacked two other inmates in prison. He hit them repeatedly to the head with weights bars. During the second attack, he had to be dragged away by other prisoners. The victims both had convictions for child sex offences and this was what had motivated the defendant to attack them. The victim of the second attack sustained serious brain injuries. The defendant was convicted. He was serving a sentence for murder when he committed these offences. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. R v C (2014) - Prosecution Causing death by dangerous driving. The defendant was driving at very high speed and without regard for other road users in a residential area. He crashed into another vehicle at a junction. The driver of that vehicle, a woman aged 45, sustained serious head injuries and died shortly afterwards. The defendant's car was clearly in a dangerous condition, he fled the scene after the crash and he subsequently claimed, dishonestly, that the deceased had been responsible for what had happened. The defendant also caused serious injury to a passenger in his car. He had ignored repeated warnings about his driving from his passenger and from the driver of another car. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment. 3

4 R v M (2013) - Defence Causing death by dangerous driving. The defendant, a soldier on leave, was driving a modified sports car. He was racing with another car. He tried to overtake the car he was racing with as he approached the top of a hill. It was not possible to see traffic approaching from the other direction. He collided, head on, with an oncoming car at high speed. Three people in the other car were killed. The defendant pleaded guilty. R v A (2011) - Prosecution Causing death by careless driving. The defendant was driving a lorry. He pulled out at a junction without checking properly that the road was clear. He collided with a motorbike that was approaching the junction. The rider of the motorbike was killed. The defendant was convicted. R v S (2011) - Prosecution (led by QC) Murder. The defendant was a drug dealer. He owed a debt to the victim. The victim had made threats in respect of the defendant's girlfriend. The defendant lured the victim to a meeting one night and then stabbed him to death. He subsequently drove the victim's body to a remote location and set it alight. The defendant was convicted. Other Serious and Organized Crime R v R and four others (2018) - Prosecution Conspiracy to transfer prohibited weapons. Instructed by the Complex Casework Unit. The case involved the transfer of two pump action shotguns and ammunition from an organised crime group based in Leicester to an organised crime group based in Coventry. The case involved extensive surveillance and phone evidence. The defendants were convicted. R v T and C (2016) - Prosecution Conspiracy to commit robbery. Cash in transit armed robbery. The defendants were involved in a conspiracy to rob a Loomis van. The security officers were refilling a cashpoint when they were attacked by two men wearing balaclavas. One of the offenders had a handgun and the other had a large knife. The offenders assaulted the security officers and threatened to kill them. They stole two cash cassettes and escaped in a stolen car. The prosecution case was based largely on phone evidence. The defendants were convicted. R v Y and 13 others (2016) Prosecution Conspiracy to commit violent disorder. The defendants were members of a criminal group believed to be involved in supplying drugs. There was a knife attack on the brother of one of the members of the group by members of a rival group. Ten minutes after this the defendants armed themselves with poles, bars, bottles, and bricks and ran through the Highfields area of Leicester looking to exact revenge. The police became involved and the group dispersed. All of the defendants were convicted. 4

5 R v D and eight others (2015) - Prosecution Conspiracy to supply cocaine and other drug trafficking offences. The defendants were involved in a conspiracy to supply large quantities of importation grade cocaine. One group of defendants was operating at or near the top of the supply chain in the UK. The offending covered London, Hertfordshire, and Northamptonshire. Tick lists found at the homes of the principal defendants showed drugs debts amounting to several million pounds. The offending also involved the supply of heroin and the production and supply of cannabis at lower levels. The police found a drugs press at the home of one of the defendants (used to press kilo and half kilo blocks of class A drugs). The case involved a combination of surveillance, phone traffic, cell-site, ANPR, and DNA evidence to prove the defendants' involvement in the offending. All of the defendants were convicted. R v G and three others (2015) - Prosecution Conspiracy to commit robbery. The defendants carried out 12 robberies during a period of four weeks. Large quantities of cigarettes and tobacco were stolen in the course of the robberies. The defendants targeted deliveries of cigarettes and tobacco to supermarkets and petrol stations. Several vehicles were stolen in the course of the conspiracy for use in carrying out the robberies. The case involved a combination of fingerprint, DNA, phone traffic, cell site, CCTV, and ANPR evidence. The defendants were all convicted. The leading defendants were sentenced to 13 and a half years and 11 years respectively. R v A (2014) - Prosecution Human trafficking and rape. The case involved the trafficking of a young woman from Slovakia to the UK where she was sold and then repeatedly raped and beaten. The defendant held her for several months before she was able to escape and contact the police. The case also involved the possession of extreme pornography, including a video of a young woman being raped at knifepoint. The case in respect of the human trafficking, rape and violence offences was stopped shortly before the trial because the complainant returned to Slovakia and declined to give evidence. The defendant was convicted of the extreme pornography offence. Cybercrime R v P (2017) Prosecution The defendant was charged with offences under the Computer Misuse Act He repeatedly hacked into the computer systems of Sports Direct, a Canadian software company called Ephere, and a veterinary clinic. Significant financial costs were incurred as a result of his offending. He was convicted. Involved in two ongoing cases involving computer hacking. 5

6 Fraud and Business Crime R v N and 13 others (2017) Prosecution (leading counsel) Conspiracy to commit fraud. The defendants were operating a claims management company and used it as a vehicle to carry out a crash for cash fraud. In the course of the fraud they induced a large number of road traffic collisions. Most of these collisions involved innocent third-party drivers. Fraudulent claims were made for vehicle damage, personal injury, hire car charges, and recovery and storage charges. The claims were made using stolen identities. The fraud generated half a million pounds for the offenders. The trial lasted for two months. Thirteen of the fourteen defendants were convicted. Sentences ranged from five years imprisonment to 18 months imprisonment. R v C and S (2014) - Prosecution (led by QC) Fraudulent trading. The case concerned fraudulent trading in respect of two companies. The value of the fraud was approximately 3.3M. The case involved a series of different types of alleged fraud - multiple selling of the same property, sham sales of property, fraudulent misrepresentations in respect of property sales and the sale of property that did not exist. The victims of the alleged fraud included financial institutions and private individuals and the indictment spanned a period of four years. The case involved complex disclosure issues. The defendants were convicted after a trial that lasted for two months. R v R and five others (2014) - Defence The case involved conspiracies to burgle and to convert criminal property. It concerned a sophisticated burglary carried out at a John Lewis depot. Several hundred MacBooks and ipads were stolen and subsequently sold. The conspirators included John Lewis employees who had facilitated the burglary. The defendant pleaded guilty. R v M and four others (2013) - Defence The defendants were charged with conversion of criminal property in respect of 1.1M that was alleged to be the proceeds of drug trafficking. Written requests for further disclosure resulted in the prosecution offering no evidence against the defendants on the day of trial. R v M and R (2013) - Prosecution Fraud. The defendants worked for Tesco Mobile and used customers' bank details to obtain tens of thousands of pounds worth of bank transfers, goods and services fraudulently. The offending was carried out during a period of six months and involved the use of the bank details of a large number of Tesco Mobile customers. The defendants were convicted. R v M (2012) - Prosecution The defendant contacted three dance schools and claimed, falsely, that he was authorised to organise a dance routine to form part of the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games. He held auditions and selected 25 students, aged from 8 to 18, from each school. He charged fees to each student and additional fees to the dance schools. He held several rehearsals and organised publicity including radio, television and newspaper coverage. Through this, he obtained local authority funding and sponsorship from 6

7 several companies, amounting to tens of thousands of pounds. In fact, the defendant had no connection to LOCOG (the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games). The case attracted national media coverage. The defendant was convicted. R v I and seven others (2012) - Defence Conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering. The case involved the obtaining of a large number of vehicles using stolen credit card information and the subsequent sale of those vehicles online. Five of the eight defendants pleaded guilty prior to trial. The trial in respect of the remaining three defendants lasted for three weeks. The defendant was convicted of one of the two counts against him, but the conviction was quashed on appeal on the basis that the trial judge had been wrong to admit evidence of his bad character. R v A (2012) - Prosecution The case concerned cheque fraud in respect of cheques stolen from a number of property management companies. The cheques were for property rental and other charges. The cheques were intercepted at a Post Office sorting office. They were subsequently converted through bank accounts that were opened across England in false names and using false identification documents. 700,000 was obtained fraudulently in this way. The defendant was convicted. Serious Sexual Offences R v R (2017) - Prosecution Rape and other sexual offences. The defendant was charged with sexual offences against five girls and two boys. All of the victims were teenagers. They were residents at care homes where the defendant worked as a care worker. The abuse took place during the 1980s. In relation to one of the victims the abuse involved sadistic sexual activity. The defendant was convicted at the end of a trial that lasted for four weeks. He was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment. R v M (2017) Prosecution Rape. Defendant was represented by a QC. The defendant was working as a taxi driver when he picked up the victim, who was a female solicitor. He drove her to a secluded area, told her that he had a knife, and raped her. He was convicted and sentenced to 11 years imprisonment. R v A (2017) Prosecution Rape of a child aged under 13. Defendant was represented initially by junior counsel and later by a QC. The defendant was 16. Between the ages of 13 and 15 he committed a series of sexual offences, including rape, against a girl aged between 6 and 8. He was the grandson of the woman who cared for the victim while her mother was at work. He also sexually assaulted another girl, who was aged 7. He was convicted and sentenced to 5 years custody. 7

8 R v B (2017) - Prosecution Arranging the commission of a child sex offence. The defendant engaged in Internet and phone contact with an undercover police officer, who he thought was a single woman with two daughters. He arranged to fly from Glasgow to Luton to spend a weekend with the woman and the children. He arranged to have sex with the girls, who he thought were aged 8 years old and seven weeks old respectively. He was arrested at Luton airport with a bag containing condoms and toys for children. He was convicted. He was sentenced to five and a half years and the licence was extended for a further four and a half years. The case attracted national media attention. R v N (2016) - Prosecution Rape and other sexual offences. During the period of offending the defendant was a teacher and head of house at a secondary school. He sexually abused boys at the school. His offending escalated over the years until it included oral and anal rape. There were five victims. The offending spanned a period of twenty years. The defendant was convicted and sentenced to 21 years imprisonment. R v N and B (2016) Prosecution Rape. The prosecution case was that the defendants had targeted a woman who was very drunk in a nightclub and had taken her to a nearby flat where they had raped her while she was unconscious. They had filmed part of the sexual intercourse that happened in the flat and this was shown to the jury during the trial. The case attracted national media coverage. R v B (2015) - Prosecution False imprisonment and vaginal, anal, and oral rape of two young women. The defendant falsely imprisoned the victims for four and eight hours respectively. He raped each of them repeatedly. The rapes were sadistic and were intended to degrade and humiliate the victims. The abuse of each victim involved unusually disturbing sexual activity. The defendant photographed and video-recorded some parts of what happened. The case involved showing the jury the photographs and video recordings. The second victim's hands and feet were bound together throughout the eight hours during which the defendant falsely imprisoned her. The defendant claimed that he had paid the victims 500 each to let him act out his rape fantasies with them. The defendant was living in the UK in a false name. He denied his true identity in order to conceal a Polish conviction for rape. The prosecution obtained evidence from Poland to prove his true identity (by fingerprint comparison) and the fact and details of the conviction. The defendant was convicted after a trial that lasted for three weeks. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. R v A (2015) - Prosecution Rape. The defendant drugged a young woman and kept her unconscious for 24 hours. During that time he raped her repeatedly. When the victim regained consciousness she was on the floor, naked from the waist down and bleeding from her vagina. In the defendant's flat the police found notebooks in which he had recorded his plan to carry out a similar offence in respect of another woman. The police also found a 8

9 collection of underwear and other intimate items that the defendant had stolen from this woman. The defendant was convicted. R v H (2015) - Prosecution Rape and other sexual offences. The defendant was represented by a QC. The case involved allegations that the defendant had sexually abused four girls within his family. The sexual abuse included repeated rape. The girls were aged between 5 and 12 during the period when the abuse took place. The girls were, respectively, the defendant's daughter, stepdaughters, and niece. During the course of the proceedings the defendant's mental health deteriorated until he became unfit to stand trial. R v D (2015) - Prosecution Assault by penetration, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and robbery. The defendant attacked a young woman as she was crossing a park early in the morning to visit her GP's surgery. He grabbed her from behind and pressed a screwdriver to her neck. He dragged her into some bushes and ripped her clothes off. He racially abused her. He then punched her hard, fracturing her eye socket and knocking her to the ground. He sexually assaulted her, including penetrating her vagina and forcing her to masturbate him. He then threatened to kill her and took her bankcard, camera and other property. He claimed, dishonestly, that she was a prostitute who he had paid to have sex with and that he had paid to have sex with her previously. He suggested that her partner had caused the injuries after his meeting with her. He was convicted and an extended sentence of 18 years was imposed. R v H (2014) - Prosecution Rape of four girls / young women aged between 13 and 21. The defendant was represented by leading and junior counsel. The offences were all committed during a two-year period when the defendant was aged between 16 and 18. One of the victims was a 15-year-old girl who was in care. The case involved legal arguments relating to severance, disclosure, and bad character. The defendant was convicted following a trial that lasted for three weeks. An extended sentence of 13 years imprisonment was imposed. R v T (2014) - Prosecution Repeated sexual abuse of two women with serious mental disorders. The defendant was represented by a QC and junior counsel. The abuse in respect of each victim included sexual intercourse. The defendant was a care manager at the hospital where the victims resided. The case was complicated by the fact that there had been five previous, non-criminal hearings in respect of the defendant's misconduct towards the victims. There was a large quantity of third party material (approximately 100 lever arch files). The case was complicated further by the fact that the defendant had falsified hospital records in order to conceal the offending. One of the victims was unfit to give evidence and there was a contested hearsay application involving psychiatric evidence. The defendant was convicted following a trial that lasted for three weeks. He was sentenced to 12-and-a-half years imprisonment. R v M (2013) - Prosecution Frequent vaginal, anal, and oral rape of children aged between 6 and 17. The offending spanned a period of 24 years. The victims were the defendant's daughters and younger sister. The offending involved 9

10 gratuitous violence. There had been two previous investigations in respect of the offending, but the defendant had not been prosecuted due to failures by the police, social services, and the CPS. The case involved contested expert evidence in respect of damage to the hymen of one of the victims. The case involved complex issues relating to third party material. The prosecution obtained six witness summonses, following a PII hearing, to discharge its disclosure duties. The defendant was convicted after a trial that lasted for four weeks. An extended sentence of 25 years imprisonment was imposed. R v S (2013) - Prosecution Sexual assault. The defendant was a consultant psychiatrist. The victim was a patient who was seeing him in respect of a range of issues including psychosexual issues. The defendant dishonestly carried out an unnecessary internal, vaginal examination. The case involved disputed expert psychiatric and endocrinological evidence. The defendant was convicted. Court of Appeal Cases Reported cases: R v W [2011] EWCA Crim 472; Times, March 20, 2011 R v Carragher [2006] EWCA Crim 1306; [2007] 1 Cr. App. R. (S.) 25 R v D [2005] EWCA Crim 2292; [2006] 1 Cr. App. R. (S.) 104; (2005) 169 J.P. 662; [2006] Crim. L. R. 73; (2005) 169 J. P. N. 979 Other Court of Appeal cases: R v Delima-Bey, Bell, and Cobley [2017] EWCA Crim 1170 R v Taylor [2015] EWCA Crim 322 R v Islam [2012] EWCA Crim 217 R v K [2011] EWCA Crim 1006 R v Kuku [2010] EWCA Crim 2533 R v Perrett [2010] EWCA Crim 68 R v Wilkes [2009] EWCA Crim 2245 R v Taberer [2009] EWCA Crim 1539 R v Perrett [2009] EWCA Crim 607 R v Copeland [2009] EWCA Crim 370 R v Pierre [2009] EWCA Crim 129 R v Saunders [2009] EWCA Crim 90 R v Woodfield [2008] EWCA Crim 454 R v Gordon [2007] EWCA Crim 320 R v Best [2003] EWCA Crim

11 Education, Qualifications & Associations BA (Hons.) in Law, Oxford University ( ) BVC, BPP Law School, London ( ) Called to the Bar in 1999 Joined 36 Bedford Row in 1999 Member of Gray s Inn Member of the Midland Circuit 11