Neil Ronan

Neil Ronan’s practice encompasses all areas of serious and regulatory crime. He is regularly instructed in the most serious criminal cases on circuit. He is an experienced advocate; both at trial and in advancing complex legal argument.  He has garnered a reputation for client care and case management skills as second to none.

Prior to his practice at the bar Neil spent 12 years as an expert witness and forensic scientist. In that time, he investigated and analysed evidence in thousands of cases, for both the prosecution and as a defence expert.  This included high profile cases and over 30 homicide case; for example https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/feb/19/jailed-gas-blast-toddler-partingto-oldham

Therefore, Neil has particular expertise in cases involving the following :-

Drugs

Arson endangering life

DNA

Trace and particulate evidence

Explosions and Explosives

Firearms and discharge residues

Cell site and phone evidence

At different stages in his career Neil has managed case loads as a case worker, legal executive and litigator. He has first hand experience of working within a number of legal service providers offices and has an excellent understanding of how he can add value to those instructing in his service delivery and case management.

Notable Cases

Murder, Manslaughter & Serious Violence

R v S – Bolton Crown Court – Nationally reported Thomas Campbell Multi-handed torture and murder case –  Thomas Campbell killing: Ex-wife among three jailed over torture death – BBC News

R v Z – Bradford Crown Court – Multi handed murder involving complex scientific evidence

R v SB – Bolton Crown Court – Death by Dangerous driving. Secured a sentence for the client which had to be AG referenced.

R v RS – Manchester Crown Court – Death by careless driving

R v A – Bolton Crown Court – S18 involving a machete wound to the bone

R v C – Manchester Crown Court – S18 involving a stranger stabbing with a knife in a park

R v W – Sheffield Crown Court – Successfully defended in a three-week trial stemming from the violent disorder that ensued during the Rotherham race riots. The case entailed highly involved legal arguments to successfully exclude aspects of the CCTV footage the Crown sought to rely on.

Arson / Criminal damage

Regularly instructed in cases of Arson endangering life. Neil was also regularly instructed as an expert witness in the most serious cases in England and Wales

R v S – Successful app to dismiss – arson with intent; fingerprint on Molotov cocktail bottle at locus and CCTV

R v H – Successful app to dismiss on arson reckless – prisoner started fire locked in a cell on his own

R v E, E and L – Manchester Crown Court – Conspiracy Arson with intent, Case involved an OCG group petrol bombing a house in which the owner was present.

R v DS – Stafford Crown Court – A case of multiple counts of arson reckless to endangering life and assault which occurred in prison.

R v F – Manchester Crown Court 2016 Instructed to defend in a multi-handed conspiracy to cause £250,000 worth of criminal damage

Sexual Offences

R v T – Manchester Crown Court – Multi handed stranger gang rape of vulnerable complainant. Case involved s28 process.

R v R – Manchester Crown Court – Multi-handed Asian Grooming rapes by three brothers

R v H – Manchester Crown Court – Multi-handed false imprisonment and sexual assault

R v W – Bolton Crown Court – Sexual assault at a party

R v McC – Nottingham Crown court – Sexual assault by employee on his employer

Drug Offences

R v A – Conspiracy to import 30kg of cocaine (Encro case)

R v H – Possession with intent to supply cocaine – Secured suspended sentence though guilty plea was on day of trial.

R v P – Possession with intent to supply cocaine – Secured suspended sentence though guilty plea was on day of trial.

Neil is regularly instructed in cases of Possession with intent to supply and as a previously registered forensic practitioner in drugs analysis you can be sure he will thoroughly review the evidence for anything that will help his client’s case.

Fraud, Theft & Dishonesty Offences

R v M – Multi-handed £500,000 fraud

R v A – Conspiracy to steal high end cars – value of approximately £3,000,000

R v H – Manchester Crown Court – Successfully secured suspended sentence for Client who stole thousands from her employer whilst on a suspended sentence for doing the same thing to her last employer.  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7022467/Boss-blasts-mother-38-spared-jail-despite-spending-5-000-firms-PayPal-account.html

R v A – Bolton Crown Court – Conspiracy (postal fraud)

R v T – Reading Crown Court 2015 Instructed to defend a client in a case of burglary with the trial run in his absence.

R v K – Bournemouth Crown Court 2015 Successfully defended a woman charged with dwelling burglary, criminal damage and harassing her ex-partner though she admitted being in the property and damaging the items at that time.

Motoring and Traffic offences in the Crown Court

R v RSR – Manchester Crown Court (Minshull Street) – Death by Careless Driving. One of the first cases to be sentenced under the new sentencing regime. Case involved the tragic death of a milkman. Defendant was a learner driver who was found to be using his phone at the time of the accident.

Manchester: Milkman about to retire killed by speeding learner driver | UK News | Metro News

R v SB – Bolton Crown Court – Death by Dangerous driving. Secured a sentence for the client which had to be AG referenced.

R v RS – Manchester Crown Court – Death by careless driving

R v A – Bolton Crown Court – Dangerous Driving https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/18794656.teenager-crashed-stolen-motorbike-coma-3-weeks/

Neil is regularly privately instructed in all matters relating to the Crown Courts inherent jurisdiction to review the verdict / sentence in the lower courts.

Magistrates and Youth Court

Neil represents both privately funded individuals and companies at trial in the Magistrates’ courts the length and breadth of the country. He has successfully defended in such matters as drink driving and s172 failure to notify offences. His decade of experience as a forensic scientist assists greatly in understanding the evidence which is necessary to prove/disprove drink driving offences. He also has experience of dealing with criminal matters in the youth court and examining young and vulnerable witnesses generally.

R v K – Bolton Magistrates’ Court – Successfully defended a nurse charged with assaulting a patient in A & E. The incident was caught on CCTV and the Doctor and receptionist present gave evidence against the defendant. As a consequence, the nurse kept his job.

R v S – Manchester Magistrates’ Court – Successfully defended a man charged with assaulting his partner and stepdaughter late at night in the family home.

R v D – Oxford Magistrates’ Court – Successfully defended a man charged with assaulting his teenage girlfriend in a hotel room when her father was present outside the door of the room.

R v H Ltd – Birkenhead Magistrates’ Court – Successfully defended a company charged with failure to notify who was driving when its truck was speeding.

R v M – Oxford Magistrates’ Court – Successfully defended a stepfather charged with breaching a non-molestation order by his two step daughters.

Publications

National Library of Medicine – Forensic isotope ratio mass spectrometry of packaging tapes

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15565219/

New Scientist – Toothpick test turns cellphones into a drug dealer’s worst enemy

https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg17523520-600-toothpick-test-turns-cellphones-into-a-drug-dealers-worst-enemy/

Mycological Research – Genesis of taenia on the capillitium of Trichiales

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0953756208616469