November 2025 – Canterbury Crown Court – R v SG -Death by Dangerous Driving
Led by Tom Schofield KC – this case involved the defendant’s vehicle colliding with two walkers causing instant death.
Jane Greenhalgh is a specialist criminal practitioner with a nationwide practice, regularly appearing in highly complex and challenging cases, often against King’s Counsel. She has over twenty-five years’ experience of practising within the field of criminal law.
Jane was only recently, in March 2026, commended by Lord Justice Dingemans for her “excellent written and oral submissions” in an appeal against conviction before the Full Court, involving a novel procedural point.
Jane prides herself on being sensitive to client care, approachable and collaborative with her professional clients in relation to the preparation of their lay clients’ cases. She is encouraging of early engagement with those who instruct her, in order to achieve the best possible outcome, and she puts the client’s trust at the forefront of any interactions.
Jane is regularly instructed in serious and complex cases, often involving high publicity, including: –
Jane has a particular experience in complex fraud, including MTIC (missing trader intra community), Excise Fraud (including alcohol diversion fraud), Immigration Fraud, Agricultural Fraud and Trading Standards.
Jane is a category 4 Prosecutor and a Specialist Panel Advocate for the CPS.
Led by Tom Schofield KC – this case involved the defendant’s vehicle colliding with two walkers causing instant death.
Jane was leading counsel in a multi-handed conspiracy to commit manslaughter case, involving a violent ‘gang on gang’ attack in Bournemouth. Jane, together with the other defence counsel in the case, managed to successfully argue, at the close of the prosecution case, that there was no case to answer on this charge. The case was prosecuted by King’s Counsel.
led by Katy Thorne KC – the case involved the murder of the defendant’s five-year-old daughter, in a classic ‘baby shaking’ case. The case involved a multiplicity of expert witnesses being called. Jane managed to successfully argue, in front of Mrs Justice Stacey DBE, that certain pieces of evidence should not go before the jury.
R v CL – Jane was for one of the main defendants in an extensive drugs conspiracy case, spanning a number of different counties. Jane managed to negotiate a plea to a substantive and lesser charge, for which the defendant ultimately received a non-custodial sentence.
In late September 2024, Jane defended in a four- month class A drugs conspiracy at Birmingham Crown Court, prosecuted by King’s Counsel.
Jane successfully argued for leave to appeal this conviction, which was argued before the Full Court, before Lord Justice Dingemans, His Honour Judge Blair KC, The Recorder of Bristol, and Mrs Justice O’Farrell, in March 2026, against opposing King’s Counsel.
Jane represented a disgraced Tory Councillor who had been charged with sexual voyeurism and computer misuse.
Jane was junior counsel in a duty evasion and MTIC fraud at Southwark Crown Court involving a multimillion-pound alcohol diversion case, involving issues of fitness to plead.
Jane defended the main defendant in a multimillion-pound duty evasion, involving cigarettes being concealed in furniture and imported from Poland, prosecuted by King’s Counsel.
Junior counsel in the largest ever National Crime Agency prosecution involving the importation of drugs from the continent. The trial lasted two years, at Manchester Crown Court, making this the longest ever trial in the history of English criminal law.
Jane was junior defence counsel in three trials representing Reynhard Sinaga, charged with multiple counts of rape and who was believed to have been, at that time, the most prolific sexual offender in the UK. She went on to appear in the Attorney-General reference proceedings, successfully opposing the imposition of a Whole Life Order.
Defended Kulwant Hare in a multi-million-pound HMRC prosecution for alcohol excise duty evasion and VAT fraud at Southwark Crown Court, relating to events between a period of September 2009 and December 2010 when those involved in the infamous “Eastenders” cash and carry, in East London, were said to have been responsible for an Excise fraud in the sum of approximately £22 million.
The proceedings against Mr Kulwant Hare were originally initiated in 2020 but after extensive “fitness to plead/stand trial submissions” over two years, the defendant was found unfit to stand trial. After a six-week trial, the jury found that he had been responsible for the acts alleged.
He was given an Absolute Discharge and no proceedings therefore followed pursuant to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, nor any applications for director disqualification.
Defended the first defendant, the alleged mastermind, in a multi—handed cigarette duty evasion conspiracy where it was alleged that the defendants were concealing cigarettes in furniture imported from Poland. The cigarettes were then further distributed by a large Organised Crime Group in Birmingham. The case was prosecuted by a King’s Counsel and junior.
Defended in an agricultural fraud, where a family of farmers were charged with fraudulently injecting their cattle with Tuberculosis-like reactor material in order to gain compensation from DEFRA. The preparation for this trial involved conferences with leading experts in this field and distilling their complex reports to ensure they were capable of presentation before the jury. On the first day of trial the prosecution indicated they would take pleas from the first defendant, having seen the defence reports showing the weaknesses in their case. The case was then dropped then against this defendant.
Leading counsel in a Home Office prosecution instructed by the CPS Fraud Unit in Manchester. Secured convictions in a complex case involving the manipulation of the Tier 4 rules system which allows non-EEA residents to come to the UK to study. Here the colleges were sham colleges, designed to sell their student places without any intention of providing an education and to profit financially as a consequence. The trial lasted five months and two defendants were convicted, one having earlier pleaded guilty.
Defended in a complex trading standards case where it was alleged that the defendants had conned business customers into agreeing to business rates re- evaluations. The defendants would use telesales to generate business, allegedly targeting the vulnerable and those who could not understand English very well. They were convicted, but the judge remarked on sentence that they were naïve and hardly experienced criminals.
Defended the main defendant in a complex mortgage fraud involving solicitors and financial advisors.
Defended in a highly complex mining fraud and POCA.
Defending a female client charged with conspiracy to commit fraud in a highly complex case of alleged fraudulent applications for government grants. All charges were dropped at trial.
Defended in multi-handed Class A drugs conspiracy trial lasting 4 months.
The defendant was alleged to have been part of a large, Organised Crime group distributing massive amounts of heroin and cocaine across Birmingham and it was prosecuted by both King’s Counsel and junior.
The case involved legal arguments in respect of the exclusion of evidence, matters of disclosure, bad character and an application to discharge the jury.
attack
attack https://hellorayo.co.uk/free/local/news/10-charged-supply-drugs-police-raid-birmingham/
High profile case of defending a Tory councillor charged with voyeurism and computer misuse charges.
Defended in a lengthy and complex multi-handed drugs and firearms conspiracy. An application of no case to answer was successfully upheld in respect of the conspiracy to possess firearms charge.
Defended in the longest ever running criminal trial, lasting 24 months, involving the largest ever drug smuggling operation.
The organised crime group was importing drugs from Europe, concealed in lorries containing “cover loads” of fruit, vegetables and cream and distributing the drugs across the UK.
It was said to be a billion-pound operation involving the importation of tonnes of drugs over 3 years described as “unprecedented and on an industrial scale”.
The case involved complex legal arguments and submissions, particularly on sentence.
The defendant was convicted and sentenced to 21 years’ imprisonment.
Leave to appeal both the conviction and sentence have been sought.
Defended in a Class A drugs and child trafficking case.
Defended in a serious case of multiple armed robberies of taxi drivers. The defendant was lightly convicted and clearly had been ‘set up’ by a man who had asked to borrow his phone and booked the taxi in the defendant’s name. The police then charged the defendant with this robbery and all other like robberies in the preceding month. He was acquitted of all offences.
Successfully defended in a National Crime Agency undercover operation involving a conspiracy to supply class A drugs in central London. The defendant, a prominent member of the Nigerian community in London, was acquitted at Kingston Crown Court.
Defending a Hungarian client charged with conspiracy to facilitate immigration by entering into a ‘sham marriage’.
Defending in a large-scale conspiracy to import Class A drugs, through Dover, involving the National Crime Agency.
Instructed to defend in a case of child cruelty involving serious non-accidental injuries suffered by an 8-week old baby.
Defended in a gangland kidnapping, blackmail and torture case.
Defended in a trial, and subsequent re- trial, in a £2.5 million drug importation.
Defended an Afghan woman charged with murdering her two-year-old daughter. It was alleged that that the defendant shook her child, causing a hypoxic brain injury.
Defended in a multi-handed murder case where it was alleged that a group of men had attacked a man in his own home. The defendant was acquitted.
Defended in a high profile multi- handed Manslaughter case involving G4S and the deportation of Jimmy Mubenga.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/dec/16/g4s-guards-found-not-guilty-manslaughter-jimmy-mubenga
Defended in multi-handed gang murder case.
Nottingham Crown Court. Junior Counsel for the Defendant. Murder and Dismemberment case where there were complex arguments on Diminished Responsibility.
Instructed to defend a woman charged with supplying a noxious substance to her sister-in-law to bring about an abortion, causing the woman to die.
Junior Counsel for the Defendant. Murder case which involved complex hearsay arguments in a voire dire where none of the witnesses would attend court to give evidence.
Junior Counsel in a 6 month ‘Gooch Gang’ gangland murder case.
Defended man charged with a campaign of rape and controlling and coercive behaviour in respect of his partner. Issues of modern slavery and human trafficking arose.
Junior for the defence over the course of three trials in the largest rape prosecution in UK legal history. For that reason, the case has been reported internationally and is influencing Government policy on the classification of the drug GHB. Reynhard Sinaga was sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of 159 counts of sexual offences against 48 different men. Jane also represented this client in the Attorney-General reference proceedings, when the Crown failed in their submission that the client should have been made the subject of a Whole Life Order.
Defended a 76-year-old in the trial and then retrial of a man charged with historic offences. Hung jury in the first trial, but convicted in the retrial and sentenced to 16 years imprisonment.
Defended in a gangland burglary and rape case.
Defended in a rape case where the events were captured on CCTV.
Defended in a historic sex offender case.
