Tyrone Smith QC

Barrister

Tyrone Smith is a highly regarded criminal defence advocate specialising in serious offences including murder, drugs offences and fraud.

Recommended in Crime in Chambers UK

Over many years he has gained a reputation as a fearless advocate who is effective at cross-examining lay, professional and expert witnesses. He is adept at changing his approach and tactics to meet the wide variety of criminal cases he defends in.

A measure of the regard he is held in is the fact that when those within the legal profession find themselves facing criminal charges they often turn to him for representation.

He has a specialist knowledge of telecommunications evidence, including cell site and IP evidence.

Recent Testimonials

"Tyrone has a measured and determined approach and is extremely good with young and vulnerable defendants facing murder. He is a new breed of silk with a good thirst for PR and client management, both professional and lay. He is well-liked by his contemporaries and the judges and he is affable, warm and engaging in all that he does. He takes great interest in his juniors and whilst running an extremely busy and successful practice he maintains a hands-on approach to his cases." Legal 500 2022, Crime
"A very fine silk whose judgement is spot-on every time. He deals really well under pressure and is utterly unflappable." Chambers UK 2021
"A fearless advocate and beguiling charmer of judges and juries alike." Legal 500 2021
"He finds alternative angles in cases others fail to see." Legal 500 2020
Ranked as a Leading Silk in Crime, Legal 500 2020
"Tenacious and measured in his cross-examination." Legal 500
"He is persuasive and has a real knack for getting on with people." Legal 500
"An incredibly proactive and talented young Silk who takes a thorough approach to his brief." Legal 500

Memberships

Member of the Criminal Bar Association

Murder

R v Hartford & 8 Others - Gang based murder in Bristol. Case involving significant contested bad character applications. Case one of the first to be reviewed following R v Joggee.
R v Cooper & Others - Murder of suspected paedophile by 4 teenagers who lured the victim following online conversations.
R v Roble & 5 Others - Gang based murder in Woolwich. Case the first to have defendants acquitted of counts following changes in the law brought about by R v Joggee.
R v Kevin Wilson - Child destruction, defendant assaulted his former girlfriend causing her serious injury and killing her unborn child.
R v Adebayo Ekun – Murder in Luton committed after a So Solid Crew event. Defendant extradited from Nigeria to face trial after 14 years on the run.
R v Ibrahim, Morgan, Williams and RE – Gang related murder; represented defendant who was just 14 years of age.
R v PZK – Attempted murder; defence presentation of cell site evidence used to demonstrate defendant’s lack involvement in aftermath and in particular reliance upon internet usage rather than call history.
R v Rio Clarke – Murder outside Brixton Police Station.
R v Lewis Maku – Conspiracy to murder – case largely based on cell site analysis.
R v Simeon Smith – Murder of Sylvester ‘Twiggy’ Seynah.
R v Housam Djemma – Murder of partner, one of the first trials to advance the new defence of manslaughter by reason of loss of control.
R v Imran Aslam - Murder of two brothers following a fight outside a ‘chicken shop’ in Balham. Case heavily reliant upon the analysis of cell site evidence involving some 23 alleged participants in the violence.
R v Kesington – Manslaughter by beating, cause of death subarachnoid haemorrhage.
R v JW - The youngest person to have ever been convicted of attempted murder using a firearm.
R v Byron Cole – Murder and gangland shooting outside Lewisham ice rink.
R v Mayers - Murder of a young man stabbed outside Lewisham police station in broad daylight. This case is now the leading authority on the granting of anonymity orders for prosecution witnesses.
R v Junior Gordon - Shooting outside of a busy nightclub.
R v Julian Williams – Murder of a neighbour after the defendant sustained racial abuse.
R v Mirga-Ondycz – Murder by beating.
R v NH & Others - Murder of a man close to QPR football stadium on Christmas Eve whilst he was unloading Christmas presents.
R v LH - Murder of a fifteen year old boy outside a school in Fulham. The killing took place whilst the victim was being robbed of his baseball cap.
R v Cokgezen - Attempted murder. The defendant was alleged to have been a hit-man contracted to murder two men in broad daylight following a gang turf war in Green Lanes between rival Turkish gangs.
R v Mattu, Rai & Others - Murder by arson. The defendant was alleged to be one of a group of men paid by a husband to set fire to a house in Tipton Dudley whilst his wife and parents slept inside. Four people died in the fire.
R v Johnson and Nduka - Murder following a series of robberies of workers in the sex industry. The case was brought solely on the basis of cell site evidence.
R v Bradley Tucker – The murder of Peter Woodhams, a young father shot four times in broad daylight close to his home in Custom House.
R v McGrady - the murder and mutilation of a teenage girl. The victim’s body parts were concealed in bin bags on a south London estate.
R v Cullen & Crandle - Attempted murder. The victim was found in the boot of the car driven by the defendant. It was suggested the defendants had tried to replicate scenes from the film 'Goodfellas'.
R v Imran Khan – Murder of the defendant’s wife by strangling her in bed with a tie.

Drugs

R v Hollingdale - Conspiracy to import 120 kilos of cocaine, case notable for its alleged use of scrambled telephones.
R v Batliwala - Conspiracy to import millions of pounds of cocaine, cannabis and to evade duty on cigarettes smuggled within fruit and vegetables via a bonded warehouse situated close to Heathrow airport.
R v Dean - Conspiracy to supply cocaine throughout the Oxfordshire area.
R v Tarak Ahmed - Defendant importing and distributing 20 tonnes of chemicals such as benzocaine and lignocaine from China for use in the adulteration of class A drugs
R v Logan, Tate, Topsom, Iktilat, Wright and others – One of the largest ever money laundering and drugs supply investigations involving a number of separate but interconnected Police Operations including Eaglewood and Puntley. The money laundering side of the investigation involved the distribution of millions of pounds worth of high value Euro notes. The drugs supply involved over 85 separate multi-kilo importations of class A drugs. This case was heavily reliant upon cell site analysis.
R v Couchman, Mills, Bowler – The largest ever conspiracy to import cannabis. The cannabis was imported from Holland by lorry using the cover of legitimate wholesale flower businesses. The imported drugs were then distributed from lock up garages in south London. The annual turnover of the conspiracy was estimated at £45 million.
R v Hassan & Others – Conspiracy to import wholesale quantities of class A drugs using a light aircraft to fly from Belgium to Kent.
R v Cribben and Lee – Importation of 50 kilos of cocaine.
R v Dennis Smith - Conspiracy to import cocaine valued at over £12.5 million. The drugs were concealed on a coach carrying war veterans home from a visit to the cemeteries of France.
R v Gary Ward - Importation of 200,000 ecstasy tablets. The case was notable for its lip-reading evidence from the now discredited expert witness Jessica Rees.
R v Matovic – Conspiracy to import ½ a tonne of controlled drugs by yacht.
R v Dar & Yilmaz – Conspiracy to import £100 million worth of heroin. The re-trial, following a successful appeal, involved the first application made for trial without jury.
R v Gavin Hunt & Others - Importation of Class A drugs (500 kilos of cocaine). The drugs were concealed in coconuts and imported into Spitalfields market.
R v O'Connor, Hanley, Wright - Conspiracy to import cocaine valued at over £800 million. This was the country's longest running jury trial (fourteen months). The case also involved the laundering of the proceedings through horse racing.

Serious Driving Matters

R v Joshua Dobby - High profile case of a drug addict who killed an aspiring child actor and his aunt during a police chase whilst out on licence. Pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter. Following sentence , Her Majesty's Attorney General under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 applied for leave to refer to the Court of Criminal Appeal against sentence on the ground that it was unduly lenient. Dobby, R v (Rev 1), Court of Appeal - Criminal Division, May 24, 2017 [2017] EWCA Crim 775
R v Robert Brown & Another - Charged with causing the death of two young brothers in a suspected hit-and-run crash in Coventry. Awaiting trial
R v William Magee - Representing lorry driver charged with death by dangerous driving after an elderly cyclist died under the wheels of a delivery lorry. Expert evidence in relation to the use of on- board camera system and vehicle positioning.
R v Phillip Beadle - Representing lorry driver charged with death by careless driving involving the tragic death of a lady cyclist in central London. Further details.

Miscellaneous

R v Marvin Herbert - Conspiracy to pervert the course of justice by offering a hideout for the notorious murderer Dale Cregan. Case involved extensive telephone cell site evidence throughout the UK and abroad.
R v Winchcole – A plot to rob a drug dealer of over £1 million worth of class A drugs together with a large quantity of cash. The defendants used to a satellite tracking device to follow the drug dealer. The downloaded data was cross-referenced with detailed cell site evidence to show the conspirators plan in action.
R v Andy Frain – Football violence defended well known Chelsea headhunter following large scale public disorder between rival Chelsea and Cardiff supporters outside Stamford Bridge.
R v Learco Chindamo – Defended man previously convicted of the murder of Headmaster Phillip Lawrence and charged with robbery whilst on licence.
R v Forbes, & Others – Sexual offences, this is now the guideline case on the recently amended IPP legislation.
R v Calderwood - the second trial relating to the robbery of "Graff the jewellers" in Bond Street where £40m of jewellery was taken.
R v David Joseph & Others - Robbery of "Graff the jewellers" in Bond Street where £40m of jewellery was taken in broad daylight and never recovered. The case was heavily reliant upon cell site analysis.
R v Carl Robinson - Firearms.
R v Purdey & Others – Conspiracy to manufacture and supply firearms which were said to have been used in over 40 shootings across the UK following first trial and imposition of sentences . The enterprise re-commenced whilst the key individuals were serving their sentences leading to a second trial.
R v M - Importation of firearms, including submachine and heavy machine guns by former member of the IRA in breach of Good Friday agreement.
R v Davenport & Others – The blackmail of QPR football club chairman Gianni Paladini. It was alleged that the defendant sought to force Mr Paladini to relinquish his shares in QPR by force, including the use of firearms.

R v Hollinshead - Defendant charged with fraud after having inflated his connections with the Saudi Royal family to lure potential investors into a variety of schemes including his fraudulent purchase of London Welsh RFC. Case involved complicated consideration of IP address analysis to demonstrate fraudulent use of email accounts.
R v MW - Solicitor charged with fraud by abuse of trust as a result of his fraudulent use of client funds.
R v Yanev - Fraud against the revenue in respect of a scrap metal business with a turnover £11 million.
R v Hamud Yassin - Multi-million pound fraud by trustees of a charity set up to protect the interests of asylum seekers.
R v Woolery - Fraud upon Royal Marsden Hospital Trust of £640,000 from funds earmarked for specialist medicines used in the treatment of cancer.
R v Webber - Multi million pound fraud orchestrated by a teenage schoolboy investigated by the Police Central eCrime Unit. He created an online trading platform called ‘Ghostmarket’ for the sale of stolen credit card details and computer malware. It additionally offered tutorials in the commission of computer based crime. The case involved highlt technical and complicated expert
R v Ray Woolley - Crime arising out of disputes over the proceeds of £38 million Mtic fraud.
R v Q.Khan - VAT fraud relating to fraudulent reclaims on business properties.
R v Whetstone - Multi million pound boiler room fraud operated from Spain.
R v Hussein - Multi million pound international pharmaceutical fraud involving the distribution of wholesale quantities of counterfeit medicines into the NHS and chemists.
R v Rogalski & Others - Defendant charged credit card fraud, said to have involved potential losses of £170 million.
R v Takkar - MTiC fraud £5 million.
R v Agwu-Jones - Corruption and fraud in respect of Local Government contracts for the London ‘Cycle network’.
R v Godfrey & Others - £5milion tobacco diversion fraud.
R v Thorne & Others - Alcohol diversion fraud causing loss to the exchequer of £4million