25 Bedford Row Barristers Chambers | Diana Ellis QC

Practice

Specialist in Criminal Law with wide experience in handling serious criminal cases at trial & appellate level including very high profile cases: murder, fraud, armed robbery, sexual abuse, child abuse, blackmail, drug trafficking. Very experienced in dealing with vulnerable witnesses. Also instructed in extradition cases. Ms Ellis has a substantial practice & extensive experience in International Criminal Law cases.

Diana Ellis QC is associated with the following areas of expertise:

Crime
Extradition & Mutual Legal Assistance
Fraud & Financial Litigation
Human Rights Law
International Criminal Law

Directories

Recommended as a leading silk in crime and civil liberties in Chambers UK 2013, and The Legal 500.

“a strong belief in promoting the rule of law”

Sources are in awe of her "expert understanding of international criminal law and her strong, uncompromising representation of her clients".

"diligent, articulate and committed".

Cases

Fraud and Financial Regulation

R v McIntosh and Others – multi million pound carousel VAT fraud operating over several years. The defendant was centrally involved in the organisation of the fraud and in laundering the proceeds of the fraud.

Crime

R v Jacek Kowalczyk - The defendant was jointly indicted on charges of manslaughter and fraud arising out of a staged car collision organised for the purposes of making a fraudulent insurance claim (Cash for Crash). This was the first case In which anyone has been indicted for a death which has arisen from such actions.
R v KK and Others - The defendant was jointly charged with murder and violent disorder in respect of an incident in a night club. The case involved detailed analysis of telephone data and complex scientific evidence concerning blood found at the scene. Defendant was found not guilty.
R v Jeffrey & Others- Defendants alleged to be part of a conspiracy to execute a night club doorman in revenge for an incident which had previously occurred. The defendant was said to have planned the murder and recruited the other participants.
R v Campbell - Historic serious sexual abuse over a nine year period by father on his daughter which commenced when she was 4 years old. The complainant was one of five children three of whom were killed by the defendant whilst she and another were seriously assaulted. Complaint of abuse came 35 years after those events.
R v Collender - Defendant was one of a group of 3 accused of murder which arose out of an altercation between two groups. The victim suffered head injuries from which he died. Issues in the case required extensive consideration of complex medical evidence.
R v Ellerbeck - The defendant, a banker, was accused of murdering his wife by strangulation. High profile case and involved consideration of complex medical matters.
R v Smoured & Others -The defendant is jointly charged with others with the murder of a young girl of 16 by shooting. Has attracted considerable media attention due to the manner in which the offence was executed. A number of issues in the case involve consideration of expert evidence.
R v Kika & Others – High profile murder - Juress Kika and two others were charged with the murder of Ben Kinsella in North London. Ben Kinsella died from multiple stab wounds in a revenge attack following an incident in a local club in which one of the defendants have been humiliated by associates of the deceased who was himself an entirely innocent victim.
R v G & Others – defendant indicted for murder and attempted murder. The Crown's case is that the offences arose out of a dispute between gangs of youths.
R v Nicholson & Others - animal rights activists charged with conspiracy to blackmail secondary and tertiary companies dealing with Huntingdon Life Sciences. Massive police investigation spanning many years and employing covert surveillance. The defendants were described by the Judge as “Urban Terrorists”. The case involved Article 10 and Article 11 issues of the ECHR.
R v Husean Hasan & Others - Central Criminal Court trial for conspiracy to murder and related offences arising out of gang warfare between two groups of Somalis. Acquitted in the Crown Court of conspiracy and convicted of conspiracy to wound with intent, subsequently challenged in the Court of Appeal who ruled that critical evidence had been wrongly excluded and that conviction was quashed.
R v M & Others - conspiracy to murder members of a rival gang against a background of drug dealing
R v Langford - defendant accused of attempting to kill his two young sons by dousing them with petrol and hitting one over the head with a jack.
R v Jasmine Schmitt – acted for a nanny accused of assaulting 3 babies in her care on separate occasions, over several years. Complex medical issues.
R v McPherson & Others – acted for one of nine gang members involved in a drug related murder.
R v Shah & Others – Represented the main defendant accused of the murder of PC Sharon Beshenivsky and attempted murder of her colleague. The officers had gone to investigate an armed robbery. Issues concerning the accuracy of identification of the man who fired the fatal shots. Complex expert evidence concerning use of firearms- in this case a Mac10 and pistols. The case received nationwide publicity in the press and on television.
R v Alecu and Others – widely reported “Ambulance Murder”. Acted for the leader of a Romanian gang who chased the victim of a rival gang into the back of an ambulance and beat him to death. The revenge attack arose out of a turf war between two groups involved in fraud.
R v Durrani – Acted for a man accused of murdering, in a vicious and sadistic manner, a well known literary agent who had befriended him. Case involved complex mental heath issues. The case attracted considerable media attention.
R v Burrell – Acted for a man accused of the rape of a woman working in the Department of Constitutional Affairs.
R v Hemmington –Acted for a woman accused of murdering her baby by suffocation. Involved consideration of complicated medical issues.
R v Goldie – Acted for the head of school, who was accused of sexually abusing a number of severely disturbed children in his care over a period of many years.
R v Iqbal and Others – Acted for one of several men accused of attempting to murder rival gang members in the context of drug related crime.
R v Gamor – Acted for a mother accused of killing her two young children. Complicated mental health issues.
R v Pervez - Acted for a man accused of multiple rapes carried out over a period of 15 months. Raised issues concerning the Pakistani culture.
R v Vincent Hickey and Others (The Bridgewater Case) – Court of Appeal. A notorious case heard in 1978 in which the appellant and three others were convicted of the murder of Carl Bridgewater. The convictions were quashed 19 years later by the Court of Appeal.
R v James – Court of Appeal. A five Judge court was conveyed to determine whether a decision of the Privy Council could in any circumstances be relied upon when it was in conflict a decision of the House of Lords. The matter in issue was the direction on provocation.

Extradition and Mutual Legal Assistance

Emmanuelle Nteziryayo and Ors – The first extradition sought for genocide in this country and the first case where extradition is being sought without a bilateral treaty in place. The extradition is resisted on a number of grounds, including that the Defendant will not have a fair trial in Rwanda. Central to the case is consideration of the current situation in Rwanda where it is argued that there are significant human rights abuses. The case is currently under consideration by the Administrative Court.

International Criminal Law

Ieng Thirith & Others – Instructed by the United Nations to represent the Minister of Social Affairs in the Khmer Rouge Government of Democratic Kampuchea led by Pol Pot’s at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. The charges include crimes against humanity; the case involves complex human rights and fair trial issues.
Professor Ferdinand Nahimana - The first trial to take place before an International Court in the role of the media in the commission of the crime of genocide has been considered. Nahimana was convicted in 2003 of genocide and crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, in Arusha. In November 2007, the Appeals Chamber quashed a significant number of the original convictions. Miss Ellis is retained to act in respect of issues pertaining to the safety of the conviction which are still under review.

Associated Work

Kurdish Human Rights Project

Advises on cases.
Recently submissions have been made to the ECHR in respect of displacement of families and destruction of their villages and other Human Rights abuses.

Professional Memberships

Criminal Bar Association
European Criminal Bar Association
International Bar Association
Liberty
Bar Pro-Bono Unit
Kurdish Human Rights Project
Association of Regulatory and Disciplinary Lawyers (ARDL)

Training

Has trained Judges and lawyers from other jurisdictions in International Criminal Law and International Criminal Law and in fair trial standards.
UN Appointed Counsel for ICTR.
Authorised counsel for International Criminal Court.
Called to the Cambodian Bar May 2008.