Helen Longworth

Criminal

Helen’s practice is one with a good mixture of prosecution and defence work, both as the sole instructed advocate and as a led junior in several long running serious criminal cases including conspiracies to rob, to transfer firearms, to supply drugs and money laundering offences. She has a particular interest in youth justice and has conducted a number of legal arguments for serious offences heard in the youth court.

Helen is a CPS Panel Advocate (general crime – level 3), a specialist fraud prosecutor (level 3), a specialist POCA prosecutor (level 2) and a specialist serious crime prosecutor (level 2).

She exhibits particular aptitude in representing those who are vulnerable, such as struggling with addiction, mental health difficulties or because they are subject to domestic violence. Helen is assiduous in ensuring that her clients understand what is happening and how the process works. She has prosecuted in cases where the defendant has not been fit to face trial and has an excellent working knowledge of procedures on fitness to plead, intermediaries and is adept at advising and taking instructions in such cases.

Inquests & Public Inquiries

Helen worked for successfully a number of years after graduating as a policy advisor and advocate in the charity sector. She qualified as a barrister in 2016 and joined Chambers in 2017 following a pupillage under the supervision of Vanessa Thomson and Matthew Snarr.

Helen’s experience in policy work means that she brings to her work at the Bar a developed sense of teamwork and well-honed communication skills. Advising individuals from differing professional backgrounds in her former career, she easily explains complex issues simply to whoever she is working with.

Helen has an established and well thought of practice in traditional criminal work, regularly appearing in the Crown Court, in both prosecution and defence work. Helen is a category 2 prosecutor and is on the specialist panel for matters under the Proceeds of Crime Act, Fraud, and Serious Crime, showing that she is excellent at managing cases with significant amounts of evidence.

Helen is also a Specialist Regulatory Advocate. She has successfully run cases involving environmental protection, health and safety and food hygiene matters.

She brings to her other areas of practice the practical skills required in criminal advocacy and the sound tactical decision making which is an everyday feature of that work. She is an expert in witness handling and case analysis. The significant emphasis on oral advocacy in criminal work gives Helen an advantage in areas where other practitioners often have a background in predominantly paper advocacy.

Helen is a member of the Chambers Inquests Team and is actively developing her practice in this area. She has worked on cases for the family, prison deaths, and for the police. As a student, she took an active interest in the position of the family at inquest hearings, writing articles for the student body.  She incorporated inquest work into her pupillage. Alongside her criminal work, Helen has built experience in civil personal injury claims, building a combination of skills that ideally suit her to inquest work.

Recent cases:

Inquest touching on the death of JP – representing the police in an inquest involving a death following a fall from a building.

Regulatory and Professional Discipline

Helen is a Specialist Regulatory Advocate. She has appeared in cases involving environmental protection, health and safety and food hygiene matters.

Family & Cross-Jurisdictional

Helen advised children’s services on the matters that cross the criminal and family courts, obtained material for disclosure as well as conducted an application to vary a Forced Marriage Order in the family courts.

Notable Cases

R v Frankel and Others (Operation Larkshot), junior prosecuting counsel, multi-million pound money laundering case – link 1, link 2.

R v Watson, defence counsel, firearms case with fitness to plead issues – link

R v Farid and Others (Operation Cap), junior defence counsel, conspiracy to rob – link

R v Godfrey and others (Operation Rivington), junior prosecuting counsel, conspiracy to transfer firearms – link

Associations

Criminal Bar Association

Education

Bar Professional Training Course, Manchester Metropolitan University (2016)

Graduate Diploma in Law, City University (2015)

BA (Hons) English, University of Wales, Swansea (2003)

Awards

Contribution to the Course Award, MMU, 2016

Dean’s Award – Highest Mark in Drafting, MMU, 2016

BPTC Scholarship, MMU, 2015

Baron Dr Ver Heyden de Lancey Prize, Middle Temple, 2016

Blackstone’s Entrance Exhibition, Middle Temple, 2016

Godfrey Heilpern KC Memorial Prize Scholarship, Middle Temple, 2015

Blackstone’s Entrance Exhibition, Middle Temple, 2015

Third Sector Young Thinker of the Year, runner up, 2009

Prescribed Information

Helen Longworth is a practising barrister, regulated by the Bar Standards Board. Details of information held by the BSB about Helen can be found here.

Helen’s clerks will provide no obligation quotations for all legal services that she offers.  Helen accepts instructions on legal aid rates where those are available, details of which can be found here.  For other work, Helen usually charges a brief fee plus refresher fees for court hearings, with advisory, conference and other preparation work charged at an hourly rate. Helen aims to return paperwork within 10 working days, however her professional commitments, complexity and volume of documentation can affect these approximate timescales.