Harry Martin

Pupil

Harry began his Second Six Pupillage in April 2025 under the supervision of Alex Di Francesco, having joined the Bar after starting his career as a criminal solicitor advocate.

Harry has extensive experiencing defending Crown Court cases, as sole advocate, for serious offences including robbery, large scale drug importation, and grievous bodily harm.

Harry initially trained as a solicitor at a magic circle law firm. He worked in the litigation and investigations team, focusing on white collar crime and private prosecution.

After earning his criminal higher rights of audience, he joined a prominent South London criminal defence firm, where he worked as an in-house advocate.

Experience

Harry has garnered experience defending clients in every rung of the criminal justice system – from advising at middle of the night police station interviews, to advocating in Crown Court trials.

A selection of Harry’s recent cases:

R v G – 5-day Crown Court domestic violence trial where Harry’s client was acquitted of threatening his partner with a bladed article and committing ABH against her 4 months later. The defendant accepted he had breached his bail by contacting the complainant but denied assaulting her despite the presence of injuries.
R v A – Harry’s client was charged with possession of an offensive weapon for having an axe handle with nails stuck into one end behind the driver’s seat in his van, but was acquitted by the jury within an hour of deliberation.
R v S – youth court indecent images trial before a lay bench, where certificate for counsel was granted due to complexity of expert evidence. Harry’s client was acquitted because the Crown were unable to prove he had intentionally made the images.
R v M – Defendant acquitted of domestic assault at trial despite compelling eye-witness evidence.
R v B – police officer accused of assaulting his sister, acquitted at trial after the complainant was shown via Harry’s cross-examination to give evidence that was inconsistent with her earlier s. 9 statement.
R v S – Harry’s client was serving a 46-month sentence for PWITS class B drugs. He was found with £46,000 spice in his prison cell, infused into his own case papers. Harry persuaded the Crown to accept a very favourable basis of plea, and the client was sentenced to a 2-month sentence, to run concurrent with the existing 46 months, so that his release date did not change.
R v K – Harry represented a client who pleaded guilty to importing 92kg of heroin and cocaine over the Dover crossing. Despite case law supporting sentences of 15-25 years, Harry successfully argued that this was a lesser role case and secured a mere 5 years 4 months sentence.
R v R – Harry represented a young woman with a four-month-old child who pleaded guilty to smuggling drugs into prison. Despite court of appeal case law mandating immediate custody and only allowing suspended sentences in truly exceptional circumstances, Harry secured a 12-month community order with no punitive element.
R v N – Harry’s client was charged with possession of three knives in public. He was acquitted of two at trial in front of a District Judge, and convicted of the third, but sentenced to a conditional discharge.
R v W – Harry submitted an application to dismiss in a firearms case, forcing the prosecution to offer no evidence.
R v S – Harry submitted an abuse of process argument in a prosecution for assaulting a police officer, forcing the prosecution to offer no evidence.
R v B – Harry’s client was acquitted of a public order offence for swearing at police officers issuing fines to homeless people on the basis that the police officer was not actually “distressed” by the swear words.
R v M – Harry successfully excluded ID evidence on day of trial due to breaches of PACE Code D, and his client was acquitted.
R v S – Harry secured a 9-month suspended sentence for client who stabbed his father 5 times in the leg and had 13 previous convictions for violence, heard at the Old Bailey.
R v C – Harry successfully argued at a Newton hearing that the alleged value of criminal damage to Tottenham Stadium was £80,000 less than the figure originally charged, and secured a community order with no punitive element when the Crown sought a 1.5-year custodial sentence.
R v H – Harry represented an 18-year-old defendant who pleaded guilty to a s.20 GBH where the victim sustained a permanent psychological injury, but managed to secure a 10-month suspended sentence.
R v B – Harry persuaded the court there were special reasons not to impose penalty points for his client who was driving a higher capacity moped than his licence allowed, and using it to deal cannabis, thereby ensuring he was not disqualified from driving.
R v H, R v B, and R v E – Harry has made successful written representations to the Crown that prosecution was not in the public interest in cases of dangerous driving, possession of a bladed article, and assaulting an emergency worker.

Education

Oxford University, Chinese Studies, First Class Honours
Tsinghua University, IUP Advanced Chinese Course
BPP University, Graduate Diploma in Law, Distinction
BPP University, Legal Practice Course, Distinction

Memberships & Qualifications

Criminal Higher Rights of Audience
Police Station Accredited
Duty Solicitor Accredited
Free Representation Unit Volunteer
Member of Lincoln’s Inn

Languages

Mandarin Chinese