Sheryl Nwosu

Barrister

Sheryl Nwosu is an astute lawyer and brilliant trial advocate who is routinely instructed as leading counsel, sole counsel, and led junior invariably in cases of complexity and seriousness; she has considerable experience in cases of homicide and serious violence, fraud offences, large scale drugs importation and conspiracy cases as well as serious sexual offences. She has extensive expertise in defending young people charged with the most serious offences.

Her down to earth approach outside of the court room in addition to fearless presentation in court proves popular with both her professional and lay clients and she is well known for considering and directing procedural and trial tactics for the point of early instruction.
Her strengths as an advocate lie not only in the measured but persuasive presentation of her cases in court, but also her meticulous scrutiny and application of the law and evidence often leading to well-timed successful legal arguments.

As a lawyer Sheryl is known to provide instructive and decisive advice on all legal matters to her professional clients; her wide interest in various other areas of law and developments within the law means she is often called upon for opinion or direction outside of matters relating to criminal law and practice. Her keen interest in practice and all areas of law means she has frequently undertaken research work for members of chambers instructed in recent Inquiries and / or Inquests. Expanding her practice in this direction she was also instructed in her own right from December 2022 to March 2023 as part of a team of external lawyers instructed by a top ranked London based law firm acting for one of the Core Participants to the Grenfell Public Inquiry to identify and distil legal issues potentially arising from evidence and submissions heard in Phase 2 of the Inquiry.

Sheryl’s legal acumen and ability to interpret and advise on law and legal concepts, means she is often called upon for opinion or legal direction in areas where the law (including criminal law) now intersects; her reading, and research in one such area has led to advice to businesses and individuals in the field of entertainment, and more recently on privacy and online conduct in this new digital age.

Sheryl is available for instruction in Direct Access work.

Associated Work

Another area of Sheryl’s legal practice relates to contractual advisory work within the industries of music and visual entertainment – this includes advising on contracts and intellectual property exploitation and copyright issues and more recently social media use and the law.
In an era where lawyers are now being called upon to provide a more personal service to clients, Sheryl finds herself providing holistic advice for those clients in these industry areas who do approach her, and, drawing upon her network of people in connected industries, she has fostered long standing relationships with a wide array of clients who benefit from her presence bringing consistency in their representation and affairs.
Sheryl holds an LL.M Masters in the area of Entertainment Law sought whilst in practice at the Bar and following her own interests in the academic analysis of the business and commercial/legal/contractual issues which underpin the sports and entertainment industries and now which through her own contacts and networks she is frequently instructed to advise or provide direction on.
She has also provided advice on privacy and data protection;
As a Public Speaker Sheryl gives talks to both businesses and educational establishments on subjects ranging from law and legal compliance, effective communication skills, and female career progression.
Sheryl provides mentoring for young people from her home area through schools and other youth programmes;

Recent Testimonials

"A passionate advocate who always goes the extra mile for her clients." Chambers UK 2024, Crime
"She conveys the case theory effectively to the clients and tells the story well to the jury." Chambers UK 2024, Crime
"She has real people skills and is very good at looking at problems in novel ways." Chambers UK 2024, Crime
"Sheryl is passionate and committed. She thinks hard about her cases and is shrewd enough to vary her tactics as the circumstances demand. She also has the rare ability to ensure her audience is absorbed by her advocacy." Legal 500 2024, Crime
"She knows the law and understands how to deal with young people with learning difficulties and those who are vulnerable to exploitation." Chambers UK 2022
"As an advocate Sheryl’s submissions and legal arguments are always artfully drafted and delivered. Judges are persuaded to her legal submissions even if they have been initially been against her. Not just the persuasiveness of her oral advocacy but also her manner of delivery are impressive — detailed, but broken down and carefully analysed against the law and fact so that no points are left unanswered." Legal 500 2022, Crime
"Fabulous, charismatic and certainly on the money when it comes to putting together legal arguments and cross-examinations." Chambers UK 2021
"She is very engaging in court" Chambers UK 2021
"Sheryl is very engaging and excellent at forging professional relationships with clients and other lawyers." Legal 500 2021
"She is hard working and is quick to grasp the key points upon which to form a case strategy." Legal 500 2021
"She has a great ability to think on her feet in court and adapt her advocacy style to the witness before her, making her an excellent cross-examiner." Legal 500 2020

Professional Memberships

Middle Temple
British Association for Sport and Law (BASL)
Women in Criminal Law
Criminal Bar Association

R v W & others (CCC) – Led junior for defendant charged with murder and two counts of attempted murder. The incident, a shooting in a London street, was described by the Crown as a "planned assassination”.
R v RT and another (CCC) – Led junior for young defendant charged with murder and causing GBH with intent where the defendant was charged with these offences following the conclusion of a first trial concerning four other defendants. He was tried with another defendant (retried following the first trial) where a cut-throat defence developed; the defendant was cleared of all both offences.
R v Foxwell – Led junior representing defendant charged with murder of her neighbour following a 5-year neighbour dispute; ran defence of diminished responsibility. (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-51477361)
R v KS (a child) and another (adult) – Led junior for child defendant charged with a joint participation murder. Successful appeal on length of sentence.
R v KA & Others - Led junior instructed on behalf of D1 in a murder within a prison.
R v AW & Others - Led junior instructed on behalf of a 14-year-old defendant charged with murder.
R v IJ & others (CCC)- Led Junior for the first defendant in multi-handed murder, deft convicted of manslaughter.
R v SS & Another - Led junior in 2-handed murder trial representing D1 who was aged 15 at the date of alleged offence. The first trial resulted in the jury being hung on the murder charge but D1 was convicted of a S.18 wounding which occurred seconds later against the deceased’s friend and within the same incident. The retrial on the murder, in which Ms Nwosu remained junior counsel, resulted in a further hung jury. In these circumstances the Crown sought a further retrial; this decision triggered extensive written legal submissions being drafted on behalf of the young defendant by Ms Nwosu and Queen’s Counsel instructed in the retrial. These written submissions led to the Crown reviewing their position and determining that they would not seek a second retrial on the murder charge.
R v Ekun - Led junior on ‘historical’ murder where the accused was extradited from Nigeria 14 years after the offence. Ms Nwosu was instructed to advise on this case, pre-extradition stage, through her legal contacts in Nigeria. She liaised closely with a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) instructed on behalf of the accused to deal with matters relating to his arrest in Nigeria and up to his return to the UK and was then instructed by the defendant to act for him in the UK.
R v SJ & Others - Led Junior for D2, a 16-year-old girl, dubbed the “honey-trap” in multi-handed youth “gang” murder. Ms Nwosu was instructed in part due to her known mentorship of young black girls from inner-city communities. The case was highly publicised and nick-named the 'Honey Trap murder’ in press and subsequent dramatic docu-dramas (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01f6qz1);
R v Brown - Led junior on murder case where defence was diminished responsibility;
R v LT - Acting alone for sole defendant charged with attempted murder – using machete in street fight;
R v Izenwa & Another - Acting alone for defendant charged with attempted murder – stabbing in street;
R v DL – Acting alone for defendant charged with rape and attempted murder of a teen;
R v Doyle & Others - Sole junior in a multi-handed attempted murder;
R v Best & Others - Led junior on gang related multi-handed attempted murder.

Multi-Handed Conspiracies

R v Dragoi Snr & others – Leading junior for defendant number one in a seven handed conspiracy to traffic Romanian nationals to the UK for exploitation; where there was a further conspiracy in relation to money laundering offences.
R v Lynn & Others - Sole junior in multi-handed drug, county line conspiracy; legal argument re imposition of a Criminal Behaviour Order, no order imposed by court.
R v DT & Others - Led junior in multi-handed drug conspiracy, representing the youngest defendant (a youth) in a case which involved “cuckooing” of several addresses and a killing occurring at an address the defendant was at, during the course of that address being ‘taken over’.
R v R & Others - Leading junior representing the so-called 'Mr Big' in a large-scale drugs conspiracy in northern England;
R v Murdoch & Others - Acting alone for defendant in a multi-handed £33m cocaine importation conspiracy;
R v Ragoonanan & Others - Led junior on wide scale drugs (mule) importation case involving recorded intercept evidence;
R v Akua-Addae - Cocaine importation case where the defendant was running the defence of duress and issues of a cultural dimension and sensitivity were successfully raised within that defence;
R v Udo & Others - Currently instructed on behalf of D1 in multi-handed firearm & drug running conspiracy;
R v RO & Others - Instructed on behalf of D1 in multi-handed firearm conspiracy;
R v Barnabas & Others - Successful defence of young defendant charged in a conspiracy with firearm offences having been ‘hard stopped’ in a taxi with another, carrying a recently collected sawn-off shot gun & ammunition;
R v Levi - Successful defence of young defendant facing firearm charges despite what was described as "overwhelming" DNA and fingerprint evidence. D’s case and subsequent acquittal careful cross-examination of expert forensic witnesses on the forensic evidence and scene of crime failures;

Sexual Violence / Serious Violence

R v JN (CCC) – Led junior for a defendant charged with x4 conspiracies to murder set against a background of ongoing gang rivalry.
R v MS and others (CCC) – Successful defence of defendant charged with Perverting the course of Justice in relation to a hidden body murder.
R v AOG – Defendant charged with rape of an acquaintance following chance meeting of the complainant in a nightclub.
R v Dickenson & Another - Armed robbery; successful defence of defendant charged with armed robbery despite supposedly positive identification evidence;
R v B - Successful defence of father charged with sexual assaults against teenage daughter.
R v MD - Representing a young defendant aged 15 years old, in foster care and charged with anally raping an 8-year-old boy 2 years prior;
R v DL (1) - Successful defence of young defendant charged with multiple rape of stranger.
R v SW & others – led junior for one of three defendants charged with attempted murder following a shooting in a London street.
R v Hassan & Another - Armed Robbery; successful defence of D1 charged with a violent armed robbery;
R v Dickens & Others - Defending in multi-complainant, multi-defendant historical rape and sexual assault trial;

R v Maddox & Maddox – representing the wife of the first defendant charged with defrauding his elderly father suffering from dementia.
Richards & Others - Represented one of three defendants accused of Conspiracy to commit Fraud by False representation spanning a period of 4 years.
R v Akinlabi & Others - High value sophisticated banking fraud involving breach of several companies online security.
R v Fuwa & Others (CCC) - "Insider job" banking fraud - Represented one of three defendants accused of banking fraud.
R v Quartermain & Others - High value "Insider job" rail company fraud - Represented 1 of 4 defendants (employee) charged with fraud by abuse of position spanning a period of 5 years; case involved consideration of the integrity of the company's system.
R v Dale - Alleged "sophisticated" fraud committed within a major high store retail chain; charges dismissed following legal argument.
R v Khana & Others – Successfully defended in an alleged student loan fraud in which the Crown were unable to prove the chain of alleged fraud against this defendant;
R v O'Neil - Mortgage fraud committed by son against family member.
R v Noel & Others - "Insider job" DSS fraud- Represented one of six defendants accused of a DSS fraud which involved manipulation of internal computer systems by employees; case involved voluminous electronic material relating to internal computing systems.