Dan Taylor
Call: 2012
Personal profile
Dan is a robust and tenacious advocate, with experience of defending and prosecuting cases across the criminal spectrum, including those of murder, serious violence, large-scale conspiracies and sexual offences and as a leading junior or junior alone. He is often instructed in cases, which involve significant quantities of technical or electronic evidence. Many of the cases he is involved in feature young and/or vulnerable witnesses and defendants.
Dan prides himself on his strategic approach to cases, meticulous attention to detail and excellent client care skills. He is cited in Legal 500, as a barrister who has “tenacity“, will “go the extra mile” and is “hardworking, intelligent, with excellent judgment“. He is pro-active in managing his caseload and is able to provide early advice on charge, evidence and/or sentence. Dan is also happy to hold conferences at any stage of proceedings, with lay and professional clients alike, in person or electronically.
In addition to his defence practice, Dan is a CPS Grade 3 prosecutor and on the Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (“RASSO”) list. Dan is instructed to prosecute on behalf of the CPS, in addition to local authorities and regulatory bodies across England and Wales. He is also qualified to accept instructions from members of the public under the Direct Access provisions.
Recommendations
― Chambers UK (2023)Dan is a really conscientious and hard-working junior.
― Legal 500 (2023)Dan is hardworking, intelligent and has excellent judgement. He approaches each case with a critical eye, carefully analysing the evidence for weaknesses in the prosecution case. He is insightful and effective in cases involving serious general crimes such as murder.
― Legal 500 (2023)Dan is enthusiastic and hard-working. He has tenacity and will go the extra mile in preparation.
― Chambers UK (2022)Diligent, well prepared and intelligent.
Murder & Manslaughter
Dan has gained significant experience both in defending and prosecuting cases of murder, attempted murder and manslaughter. He has particular experience in cases with a ‘gang’ or drugs background. He is cited in Legal 500 2023 as being “insightful and effective in cases involving serious general crimes, such as murder”.
Featured cases:
- R v FM and others (2024) – Led junior for one of three defendants charged with the murder of the 10 year old schoolgirl, Sarah Sharif. The case, which is due to be tried at the Central Criminal Court in October 2024, has received extensive national and international media attention [BBC News]
- R v RJ and another (2024) – Junior alone for a young man charged with attempted murder. The case involves alleged rivalry between two gangs. The trial is fixed for August 2024.
- R v AK and others (2024) – Junior alone for a defendant charged with assisting an offender, the substantive offences being murder and attempted murder. The case, which is being prosecuted by Senior Treasury Counsel, is due to be tried at the Central Criminal Court in February 2024.
- R v DT (2023) – Led junior for a defendant acquitted after trial of attempted murder. The defendant was alleged to have inflicted multiple blows to the complainant with a baseball bat, in what was said to have been a revenge attack as part of a long-running family dispute.
- R v AB and others (2023) – Led junior for a young defendant charged with murder. The case involved many thousands of pages of telephone evidence, expert evidence from multiple forensic pathologists, and complex issues of joint enterprise.
- R v DM (2022) – Led junior for the prosecution of a defendant charged with murder. The case received national new coverage and centred on many detailed strands of circumstantial evidence. The defendant was convicted after trial. [BBC News]
- R v JT (2021) – Led junior for a defendant charged with murder. Part-way through the trial, the defendant was found to be unfit. Following a subsequent trial of the facts, he was found to have ‘done the act’ and received a hospital order, with restriction [BBC News]
- R v MB (2021) – Led junior for the prosecution in a case of murder and assisting an offender. The case concerned complex evidence of motive and a significant quantity of telephone evidence [BBC News]
- R v VB (2020) – Led junior for the prosecution in a high-profile case of soliciting murder, which featured on the Channel 4 television show, ’24 Hours in Police Custody’. The defendant, referred to as the ‘Black Widow’, had sought to persuade four men to kill her ex-partner over a number of years. She was convicted after trial and sentenced to nine-and-a-half years imprisonment [BBC News]
- R v MM and others (2020) – Led junior for a defendant who was alleged to have ‘disembowelled’ a gang rival, in Bristol city centre. The case against the defendant was entirely circumstantial and involved in excess of 20,000 pages of telephone evidence. At the conclusion of their case, the prosecution accepted a plea to conspiracy to cause GBH, with the defendant thereby avoiding a life sentence.
- R v AJ and others (2019) – Acted alone for a defendant charged with assisting an offender, the principle defendant having been charged with murder, arising out of county-lines drug-dealing [BBC News]
- R v KN (2018) – Led junior in a high-profile and particularly tragic case involving offences of murder and attempted murder in an unprovoked attack inside a pub in Cambourne, Cambridgeshire. The defendant was convicted after trial [BBC News]
- R v MB (2018) – Led junior for a defendant charged with murder. He was alleged to have stabbed the deceased 65 times. On the first day of trial, the prosecution accepted a plea to manslaughter by way of diminished responsibility. The judge imposed an order under s45A of the Mental Health Act 1983, rather than a life sentence [BBC News]
Serious Violence
Dan is frequently instructed to defend and prosecute in multi-handed cases, which involve weapons and allegations of serious violence.
- R v AC (2024) – Junior alone for a defendant charged with s18 GBH against his father. The case is due to be tried in September 2024.
- R v TM (2023) – Junior alone for a defendant charged with conspiracy to rob thousands of pounds in casino winnings. The case involved significant quantities of cell-site evidence and is linked to a murder, in which an associated defendant was acquitted of conspiring to kill three men.
- R v MM (2022) – Defence of a man charged with s18 GBH and violent disorder. The case involved multiple defendants and the alleged use of machetes within the context of a street-brawl between rival groups. Following submissions on the identification evidence, the Judge upheld an application to dismiss.
- R v SA (2021) – Junior alone for a defendant charged with possessing a loaded firearm with intent to endanger life and associated drug offences. The defendant’s DNA was on the gun and ammunition. The case involved legal argument on the admissibility of ‘gang evidence’ and evidence of non-conviction bad-character. The defendant was acquitted of all counts following a two-week trial.
- R v BG (2020) – Defence of a youth with significant learning and mental health difficulties, charged with a s18 stabbing in which the complainant’s femoral artery was punctured.
- R v JD and others (2019) – Sole counsel for a defendant charged with s18, arising out of a shooting at a traveller’s site. Following extensive legal argument at the close of their case, the prosecution accepted a plea to conspiracy to commit violent disorder. The defendant received a suspended sentence of imprisonment.
- Operation Mace (2018) – Led junior in the successful prosecution of seven defendants, charged with aggravated burglary and robbery. The defendants were sentenced to a total of 127 years imprisonment [BBC News]
- R v WJ (2018) – Led junior for the prosecution of a man who was alleged to have sent an improvised explosive device (‘IED”) to his step-mother’s house. The case involved complex evidence from a Home Office accredited expert on explosives.
- R v AH (2017) – Defence of a man charged with a s18 stabbing, in what was alleged to be tit-for-tat violence between rival gangs. The defendant was acquitted at trial on the basis of self-defence.
- R v GG (2018) – Led junior for the prosecution in a case involving allegation of child cruelty. The judge described the abuse that the two children were subjected to, as “sadistic” and among the worst of its kind. The case involved evidence from a five year-old girl, with a cocktail of special measures, intermediary and the assistance of a world-renowned child psychologist [BBC News]
- R v TB (2015) – Successful defence of a man charged with a s18 stabbing. The incident took place in broad daylight. The defendant’s DNA was on the knife and he was positively identified as the assailant. He was acquitted following a two-week trial.
Crime
Dan is often instructed in paper-heavy, multi-handed conspiracies involving offences of dishonesty, drugs and firearms. Over the last 18 months, Dan has defended in a number of large-scale drug conspiracies at courts across England and Wales, cases arising out of ‘Operation Venetic’.
Featured cases:
- R v JW (2024) – Instructed for a defendant charged with conspiracy to supply circa. 10kg of Class A drugs arising from ‘Operation Venetic’ and the importation of 350kg of skunk cannabis. The trial is fixed for October 2025.
- R v IM and others (2024) – Junior alone for a defendant charged with a large-scale drug conspiracy and allegations of people trafficking over many years. The trial is fixed for March 2025.
- R v JK and others (2024) – Junior alone for a defendant charged with the importation of multiple kilograms of Class A drugs from Pakistani to the UK. The overall vale of the drugs imported is said to be £5.5m. The trial is fixed for the summer of 2024.
- R v DB and others (2023) – Leading junior on behalf of a defendant charged with offences under the Serious Crime Act 2007, concerning alleged the sale of ‘Encro Chat’ devices, for criminal purposes The case is understood to be the first of its kind in England and Wales, following ‘Operation Venetic’. The defendant was the only one of four to be acquitted at trial.
- R v AA and others (2023) – Leading junior for a defendant charged with a large-scale drug conspiracy said to have been committed from custody. The case was prosecuted by a Silk and Junior.
- R v AD and others (2021) – Instructed for a defendant charged as part of what has been described as the ‘highest value dwelling burglary in English legal history’ [The Guardian]
- R v VJ and others (2021) – Instructed on behalf of the lead-defendant in a multi-handed, large-scale drugs conspiracy across three counties in the east of England. Following a guilty plea and subsequent Newton hearing, the defendant received a suspended sentence of imprisonment.
- R v AH and others (2021) – The Defendant was charged with conspiracy to supply in excess of 50kg of Class A drugs, arising from ‘Operation Venetic’.
- R v KB and others (2021) – Instructed for a defendant charged with conspiracy to supply circa. 20kg of Class A drugs arising from ‘Operation Venetic’.
- R v MH and others (2019) – Successful defence of a Kurdish national, charged with conspiring to launder in excess of £150,000 into the UK. The case involved expert evidence from, and detailed cross-examination, of two forensic accountants.
- R v FS and others (2018) – The defendant was charged with conspiracy to remove criminal property from the UK. Although the value of the laundered money was in excess of £7 million, Dan’s client received a sentence a little in excess of two-year imprisonment [ITV News]
- R v JO and others (2018) – Defence of a man charged with conspiracy to burgle. The case concerned in excess of 250 dwelling and non-dwelling burglaries, committed across five counties, over the course of 11 months. There were in excess of 20,000 pages of served evidence [BBC News]
Sexual Offences
Dan is on the CPS ‘RASSO’ list, and prosecutes and defends in cases which allege serious sexual offences. Such cases often involve the examination of young or vulnerable witnesses and consideration of a significant quantity of unused material. Dan has already conducted a number of s28 pre-recorded cross-examination hearings.
Featured cases:
- R v BG (2024) – Junior alone for a defendant charged with multiple sex offences against his seven-year-old daughter. The trial is fixed for December 2024.
- R v LH (2024) – Defendant acquitted of multiple allegations of rape said to have been committed against his ex-partner. The case involved extensive s41 argument.
- R v JTB and others (2023) – Led junior for a defendant charged with multiple child-sex offences within a familiar environment. Following requests for disclosure and subsequent application to stay, the prosecution offered no evidence on all counts.
- R v PU (2023) – Instructed for a young man charged with others, with multiple ‘gang rapes’ of a 12 year old girl.
- R v AA (2022) – Defence of a man charged with a ‘stranger rape’ in Peterborough town centre.
- R v AW (2021) – Led junior for the prosecution of a high-profile case, which attracted national news coverage, involving allegations of serious sexual offences committed by a paramedic against his patient, work colleague and daughter. The defendant was convicted after trial and received a sentence of 21 years imprisonment [BBC News]
- R v AC (2020) – Defence of an elderly man, with significant physical and mental health difficulties, including early-onset Alzheimer’s, charged with multiple historic sex offences against his granddaughter. Dan was able to persuade the sentencing judge to impose a significantly reduced sentence on the basis of the defendant’s particular personal circumstances.
- R v PK (2019) – Successful defence of a man charged with multiple historic sex-offences, involving underage girls. The case involved nuanced arguments on s41 and was prosecuted by a Silk.
- R v KC (2019) – Led junior for the prosecution in a high-profile case involving historic allegations of sexual abuse against a nationally renowned football coach. The case involved a significant quantity of third-party material dating back over 40 years and offences committed in multiple jurisdictions. The defendant committed suicide on the first day of his trial [BBC News]
- R v DG and others (2017) – Defence of a Romanian man charged with the attempted rape of a stranger, in Ipswich town-centre. The case attracted considerable local media attention. On appeal, his sentence was reduced from 12 to 10 years imprisonment [BBC News]
- R v GN and others (2017) – Led junior for the defendant in a multi-handed case, alleging multi-generational, inter-familial child sexual abuse. The allegations spanned a period of 30 years. There was a considerable volume of unused material to consider. Dan’s client had an IQ of 43 and had been formally diagnosed with ‘paedophilia’. Following extensive legal argument over a number of days, the prosecution offered no evidence against the defendant.
- R v JP (2016) – Defence of a youth charged with assault by penetration. The case involved a careful cross-examination of the 10 year old complainant, during which she accepted that she may have dreamt the incident involving the defendant. The Judge dismissed the case following a successful submission of no case to answer.
Business Crime & Fraud
Dan’s diligent approach and attention to detail means that he is regularly instructed in cases which concern allegations of fraud and dishonesty.
Featured cases:
- R v KS (2021) – Defence of a lady of good-character charged with fraud against her employer, valued in excess of £150,000. Owing to the presence of compelling personal mitigation, Dan was able to persuade the judge to impose a suspended sentence of imprisonment.
- Operation Wastebasket (2019) – Led junior for the prosecution in a multi-handed, high value MoD fraud, concerning the manipulation of Joint Personal Accounts, used by the MoD, governmental and UK service personnel, including UK special forces. All defendants were convicted after trial [Daily Mail]
- Operation Sabbath (2018) – Led junior in a case prosecuted by the East of England CCU, concerning two ‘boiler room’ frauds, purporting to sell colour diamonds and binary trades, to would-be investors. The value of the frauds was in excess of £500,000. 12 of the 13 defendants were convicted over the course of four trials, including a character from the reality TV show, ‘The Only Way is Essex’ [Daily Maill]
- R v LK and others (2017) – Led by Peter Gair for the prosecution in a case involving a high-value, rare-earth metal investment fraud.
- Operation Hornet (2015) – Disclosure junior in the high-profile, high-value banking fraud, involving employees of HBOS. The case received considerable national news coverage [BBC News]
Military Law
With a military background, Dan is well placed to receive instructions in Court Martial proceedings.
Featured cases
Recent instructions have included allegations of serious violence and sexual offences.
- R v GJ (2019) – Instructed for the defence of a Chief Petty Officer charged with negligently performing a duty.
- R v PW (2018) – Provided the successful defence of an RAF Corporal charged with offences of GBH and ABH. The defendant was acquitted following a half-time submission on the issue of identification.
- R v TJ (2018) – Instructed for the defence of a Private in the Parachute Regiment, charged with GBH on a taxi-driver.
- R v PY (2018) – Instructed on a private basis, on behalf of an Army Sergeant, charged with breach of curfew whilst on tour in Kenya. Following extensive and detailed written submissions to the SPA, proceedings against the defendant were discontinued.
Appeals
Dan appears in the Court of Appeal in respect of appeals against sentence and/or conviction.
Featured cases
- R v LT (2019) EWCA Crim 58 – This was a successful appeal against a terminating ruling. The Court of Appeal determined that the judge at first instance had wrongly excluded identification evidence, having incorrectly interpreted the provisions of Alexander & McGill and McCullough, concerning identifications through social media. The case features in Archbold and Blackstones as one of the leading authorities on identifications made through social media.
Education
- BPTC, Manchester University (2012)
- CPE, BPP Law School (2011)
- BA (Hons) History and Politics, University of York (2009)
Professional appointments
- CPS Panel Advocate (Grade 3)
Memberships
- CBA
- South Eastern Circuit
- Gray’s Inn
Publications
- Corporate Crime, Lexis PSL, 2016, contributing author