| April Lamai is an award-winning criminal Barrister who prosecutes and defends in the Magistrates’ Court, Crown Court and Youth Court. Having successfully completed her pupillage at the Crown Prosecution Service (Manchester) April was subsequently offered tenancy at No5 Barristers’ Chambers Birmingham. April has extensive experience acting in complex Crown Court cases, many of which were reported and earned her judicial praise for her compelling advocacy and meticulously written submissions. These offences include but are not limited to, drug-related offences, fraud, motor offences, domestic abuse, and sexual offences. Before commencing pupillage, April was a County Court Advocate at Quest Legal Advocates where she quickly developed a busy practice representing clients in Infant Approval Hearings, Small Claims Hearings and Injunction Applications. Commendably, while studying the Bar Practice Course, April also devoted her time to working as a Senior Caseworker at Advocate – the Bar Council’s Pro Bono Unit.
Background April successfully completed her bachelor’s degree in Law at Dublin City University Ireland where she graduated with a high 2.1. Following a competitive job offer as a Financial Crime Analyst at General Electric, April moved to Manchester in 2018 where she spent over 1 year investigating watch list alerts and suspicious financial transactions which ultimately safeguarded the company from money laundering, fines and international sanctions. April went on to complete the Graduate Diploma in Law conversion course at BPP, followed by the Bar Practice Course and Master of Laws at The University of Law. April further enhanced her qualifications by becoming a Lexcel Assessor at The Law Society – scoring the highest in her cohort in 2023.
Notable cases: R v Fernando Mayans Fuster 2024 – Successfully prosecuted one of Manchester Airport’s largest drug seizures, where the Defendant was travelling with two children whilst carrying 8 suitcases containing 278 packages of cannabis worth £4.8 million. Despite Defence requesting a suspended sentence, I successfully highlighted the aggravating factors, resulting in a custodial sentence. Reported on BBC News: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1dmk7emd73o R v Nigel De Jesus 2024 – Prosecuted high profile burglary Sentencing Hearing where the Defendant broke into a bridal shop and stole over 25 wedding dresses worth £45,000. Case reported in Manchester Evening News: https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/thief- smashed-way-bridal-shop-29161921 R v Stephen Foster 2024 – Successfully prosecuted serious fraud Sentencing Hearing in the Crown Court, where the Defendant, in the role of Power of Attorney, stole over £15,000 from an elderly victim. Following my submissions, the Defendant was ordered to pay the entire sum back to the victim. R v Marcus Devan Montoya 2024 – Successfully prosecuted high profile NCA Crown Court Sentencing Hearing where Defendant pleaded guilty to smuggling 33.42kg of cannabis worth £200,000. Reported in Manchester Evening News: https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester- news/law-abiding-honest-man-caught-29473037 R v Ball 2024 – Crown Court Appeal Against Sentence. The Appellant was sentenced to 6 months driving disqualification for speeding. Successfully quashed the Appellant’s two main grounds of exceptional hardship. R v Davies 2024 – Successfully prosecuted a trial of a registered sex offender convicted of rape, for failing to comply with his notification requirements
Interests/Outside of court activities: April’s invaluable experience and captivating advocacy skills earned her an invitation to Reverend Al Sharpton’s National Action Network convention in New York in 2023, where she delivered a historic speech on the same stage as the Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris, on social justice issues in the UK. Universities regularly invite April to deliver talks. For example, in 2024, April was invited by members of the judiciary to join them in delivering a talk to aspiring lawyers at the University of Central Lancashire. In early 2024, April represented the CPS as she delivered a two-day workshop at the University of Salford on the Full Code Test, the Bail Act, and Hate Crime. April enjoys reading, writing and listening to music in her spare time. |
Award-winning Criminal Pupil Barrister with in depth experience in a range of offences and hearings in the Magistrates Court and the Crown Court. Prosecution based pupillage where I prosecuted minor offences and trials in the Magistrates Court e.g., criminal damage, road traffic offences, assault and drug offences, to prosecuting serious offences in the Crown Court e.g., fraud, threats to kill, possessing indecent images of children, wounding and drug offences.
Magistrates Court Hearings include: Trials (including s.172), Guilty Anticipated Plea Hearings, Not Guilty Anticipated Plea hearings, Sentencing Courts and Remand Courts.
Crown Court Hearings include: Committal for Sentences, Appeals against Sentence & Conviction, Bail Applications, Bail Variation Hearings, Pre-Trial Hearings & Case Management Hearings.
Other work undertaken includes writing pre-charge advices for the police, participating in CPS Scrutiny Panels with the police and relevant organisations to review past prosecuted cases and refine better ways to prosecute them. Additionally, delivered law talks to aspiring barristers at the University of Salford and observed ground-breaking trials such as R v X and Y (Briana Ghey murder trial).
| “April appeared before me to prosecute a serious case which involved particularly difficult issues in relation to sensitive information to the authorities. She dealt with matters in a very impressive way, causing me to write a letter of commendation to her line manager at the CPS.” – HHJ Alan Conrad (September 2024 – Manchester Crown Court)
“Your advocacy is excellent, I am sure you will have a bright future ahead of you” – HHJ Manley (October 2024 – Manchester Crown Court)
“I understand that you are just a few weeks on your feet, but I must say, your advocacy and submissions say otherwise. That was fantastic.” – HHJ Horgan in R v Matthew Longden. (May 2024 – Manchester Crown Court)
“You uploaded a detailed and excellent Prosecution Opening Note without even being asked. Welcome to Bolton Crown Court.” – HHJ Clarke KC in R v Zak Fairhurst. (June 2024 – Bolton Crown Court) |
We are excited to announce that April Lamai has joined the Crime group at No5 Barristers’ Chambers. Michael Duck KC – Head of No5 Barristers’…
The University of Law Dean’s Scholarship Award for Excellence | May 2020
› Awarded scholarship based on my advocacy skills in a plea in mitigation exercise as part of my application onto the BPC Programme. I competed against hundreds of Bar applicants.
Potential Unlocked Legal Excellence Luminary Award Winner | 3rd Feb 2024
› Winner of Legal Excellence ‘Highly Commended’ Award for outstanding contributions and transformative impact on my journey to becoming a Barrister and my role as one.
The University of Law’s LLM Presentation Competition | May 2021
› Winner of Street Law Pro Bono Presentation competition on ‘Covid-19 Impact on Criminal Justice System’.
Advocate (Bar Council’s Pro Bono Unit) ‘Volunteer of the Month’ | February 2021
› Awarded ‘Volunteer of the Month’ for exceptional contribution and exceeding expectations on Family Law Team.
TBD Marketing Top 10 Legal LinkedIn Barristers (UK & Wales) | 9th July 2024:
› Awarded Top 10 Legal LinkedInfleuncer from a pool of thousands of barristers due to posting the most impactful and helpful legal content on LinkedIn.
We are excited to announce that April Lamai has joined the Crime group at No5 Barristers’ Chambers. Michael Duck KC – Head of No5 Barristers’…
