Robert Woodcock QC

synopsis

Robert has been practising criminal law all his professional life. In that time he has developed a practice which engages him right across the spectrum of criminal offending and which soon marked him out as a highly skilled performer in all aspects of his craft and in particular as a most effective and when necessary ruthless cross examiner. Further his jury speeches have commanded admiration and the respect of Bench and Bar for years.

He believes that the best advocates are those whose careers have involved general rather than specialised casework. Thus he excels in cases of fraud, serious sexual offending, gangland violence and serious organised crime groups. His recent experience includes handling of anonymous witnesses in cases of gangland crime.

His career has involved him in conducting defences in countless homicides in addition to prosecuting such cases both as leader and before that in his days as a junior too. Robert also represents police officers in disciplinary proceedings.  

He revels in the challenge of forensic science and has considerable skill in cross-examining scientific and medical expert witnesses. He has conducted successful defences of Diminished Responsibility in allegations of Murder. He was conducted successful defences in allegations of so-called Baby Shaking cases. Indeed because of his known skills as a highly effective cross examiner in that field he has recently been asked to act in defence of a father in Family Proceedings in The High Court where the perpetration of exceedingly serious violence on a child was the issue.

He is fearless as an advocate and in the conduct of his cases whatever their nature and believes that regardless of Government thinking everyone deserves fair, vigorous and the best representation whatever the nature of the allegations made against them. This he believes is so regardless too of how controversial the origins of a case or the law which prohibits the alleged offending.

Robert also conducts some cases in the field of Regulatory proceedings.

notable cases

• R v D (2011) : Conducted the defence of a father who, with the mother of the child, was accused of numerous acts of serious violence to his daughter aged two and who at the time was afflicted with respiratory and cardiac problems, breathed through a ventilator and was fed by gastrostomy. This criminal trial was preceded by several weeks of a perpetration hearing in the High Court in which Robert also acted for the father.
• R v Millichamp (2011) : A youth charged with rapes of cousins each of whom was autistic and incapable of meaningful cross examination in which trial the judge directed a fair trial possible and where numerous acquittals were secured.
• R v Cunningham (2011) : This man was accused of shaking his baby daughter of one month in age and causing serious injury. The full array of medical science was amassed against him in support of the so-called "shaken baby syndrome" but which failed to secure his conviction.
• R v Claire Nichols (2010) : This lady was accused of the murder of her husband. The allegations were akin to torture over many weeks and further alleged the recruitment by her of her brother and her lover to achieve it. It was also alleged she had directed assistance from her own children to perform some of the acts of brutality leading to his death.
• R v Stephenson (2010) : This man was accused of the murder of his dying father in his hospital bed. Diminished Responsibility occasioned by alcohol dependency and acute depression was a successful defence.
• R v Hodgson (2010) : This man was accused of murdering an 85 year old lady as she slept in her bed. He was a skilled domestic burglar who crept into her home to steal from her. He set alight to and destroyed her home as he fled in order to destroy such evidence as he may have left behind.
• R v Nesbitt (2010) : This man was accused of raping numerous of his former wives and girlfriends and even some of his own children. All allegations were historic and intertwined with collusion by his accusers.
• R v Mann (2010) : This lady was accused of poisoning her own child by feeding her doses of an adult and extremely powerful painkiller. She demonstrated all the known symptoms of Fictitious Induced Illness Syndrome formerly known as Munchausen By Proxy.

education

• LLB

appointments

• Queen's Counsel 2009

memberships

• CBA member
• North Eastern Circuit

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