Richard Butters

Call 2001

Principal Areas of Work

• Criminal Law
• Regulatory Law

Richard has an impressive variety of experience. He initially qualified as a Solicitor in 1993 until he was called to the Bar in 2001. He then practised at 37 Park Square Chambers in Leeds for 17 years developing a successful Criminal Practice both for the Defence and the Prosecution. In early 2016 Richard then left practice to take up his post on the Isle of Man as Director of Public Prosecutions.

Upon completion of his fixed term in that role he then completed a term as Director of Professional Conduct at the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAEW).

Richard now joins Wilberforce Chambers bringing his wealth of experience to both the Criminal and Regulatory Teams.

Criminal Law

Richard appears regularly in the Crown Court and over the years has appeared on regular occasions at the Court of Appeal dealing with Appeals against Sentence and Conviction. He Prosecutes and Defence cases on an equal basis. Richard deals with complex cases encompassing the full spectrum of offences from theft, serious fraud and sexual offences. He also prosecutes to a high level, being a level three Prosecutor and also being on the Rape and Serious Sexual Offences list for the Crown Prosecution Service.

Notable Cases:

• R v KM – Richard defended this high-profile case of Karen Matthews. The defendant was alleged to have kidnapped her own daughter along with her uncle who was also a defendant. This case was highly publicised and indeed has recently been made into a popularised film.
• R v M – Successfully prosecuting the defendant who had sexually abused his three(now grown up) children .The Complainants now adults gave evidence against their father one after one alleging Sexual Assaults and rapes .The defendant was convicted of all 26 counts and he is now serving a 28 years sentence.
• R v S – Successfully defending a Lithuanian defendant who is alleged to have been handling stolen goods to the value of over £1 million. This was a three-week trial and involved detailed CCTV, financial and cell site telephone evidence.
• R v MA – Richard was Junior in this case led by Mr Nicholas Lumley QC defending a murder .This was a six weeks trial and the defendant was acquitted of the murder but found guilty of the alternative offence being manslaughter.

Regulatory Law

Richard has led the professional conduct department at the Institute of chartered accountants (ICAEW) and as a consequence has much experience conducting disciplinary hearings particularly of a financial nature. Richard is familiar with all procedural aspects of Disciplinary Tribunals.

Qualifications

• LLB (Hons) 2:1
• Solicitors Finals (1993)
• Higher Courts Advocate (Criminal Division) (1999)

Memberships

• Middle Temple (2000)
• North Eastern Circuit
• Criminal Bar association