David Maunder - Head of Crime

One area where David has particular expertise is in cases involving serious and historic sexual offences. Whilst taking a robust stance in court, his empathetic approach to victims and witnesses means he is able to handle the most sensitive of proceedings. He has prosecuted and defended cases involving accused persons and victims of all ages and cognitive abilities, and in this context he has extensive experience of dealing with intermediaries, expert witnesses and mental health professionals.

R v KG – David successfully defended an ex-Arsenal football player in his trial on charges of rape of a young woman, in a case which attracted national media interest.

R v GC (2018) – David acted on behalf of a non-English speaking man charged with over 20 instances of rape of his wife throughout the duration of their 20-year marriage. The case was highly sensitive as the complainant was a highly regarded senior academic at one of the country’s top universities.

R v PS – David successfully prosecuted a particularly brutal allegation of multiple rape and other sexual violence by an overseas drug dealer against an extremely vulnerable drug-addicted victim, with severe mental health problems.

R v BS – David acted for the defence in a case involving multiple allegations of sexual assault by a teacher at a well-known local public school, against a pupil at the same school. The defendant was acquitted of all charges.

R v CP (2019) – David successfully defended a teacher accused of historic sexual abuse involving a student from his school. After trial the defendant was acquitted of all charges.

R v RP (2018) – Successful defence of young male, diagnosed with serious ADHD and significant learning difficulties, who was charged with 2 counts of rape of a young teenager, resulting in a full acquittal.

R v SS (Operation Brooke Part 2) – David represented a young man prosecuted as part of Operation Brooke, which featured a large group of Somali men who were investigated for child sexual exploitation. The enquiry has been described as the “largest investigation of this nature in Avon & Somerset police’s history” and the trial was heard over 10 weeks in Bristol Crown Court.

R v SM (2018) – Defence of man entrapped and apprehended by a vigilante group of so-called “paedophile hunters”, who was later charged with multiple counts of internet-based grooming offences against a number of children.

R v RW – David successfully prosecuted a man charged with sexual assault, with the offence dating back over 30 years ago. The defendant was a football coach accused of historic sexual offences against a 13-year-old boy in his team.

David’s ability to prepare and present the most complex of cases has resulted in regular instructions in cases of this sort. David has defended in cases ranging from complex VAT frauds and the defrauding of companies to large scale conspiracies to burgle and steal by organised crime gangs. David also acted within the first prosecution under new consumer protection legislation that aimed at ‘pyramid schemes’.

R v SS – David acted on behalf of a defendant charged with theft from her employer and false accounting. The offences occurred over the span of 3 years with just under £400,000 being taken by the employee.

R v PR (Operation Dorset) – David defended a businessman charged with a half-million pound VAT Fraud involving the international trade in rare and valuable stamps. The man was alleged to have used a complex series of internet-based transactions in different currencies and between a number of different company entities to mask the fraud. He was alleged to have laundered the proceeds via the purchase of property.

R v LT – David represented a man charged with attempting to defraud Cardiff City Council out of more than £135,000 through false personal injury claims.

R v O’L and others – David represented the lead defendant in a large scale conspiracy to steal antiques and paintings valued in the tens of millions from dozens of stately homes across the country. One of the alleged offences was at the time believed to be the highest-value burglary in British history.

R v LS – David represented a man featured on the TV series “Cowboy Builders” charged with defrauding a number of consumers, including police officers

R v F&F – Successful prosecution of husband & wife charged with forging the will of a close relative. The pair forged the will after being cut out from the will, due to a fall out in the family.

Throughout David’s career he has had vast experience of cases of this nature, acting for both the prosecution and the defence. His case history includes significant police operations where complex circumstantial evidence from a variety of sources had to be distilled and presented clearly to a jury.

R v SZ & CR – David represented one of two alleged drug dealers charged with abducting and kidnapping a vulnerable man in order to enforce a supposed drug debt.

R v DP, ZD & RB – David successfully prosecuted a three-handed Attempt Murder case arising out of a large incident of public disorder in Swindon, where the victim received multiple stab wounds during a brawl.

R v NG – David defended a woman charged with GBH Section 18 after a man was stabbed twice in Bristol. He defended her through trial and after 4 days she was acquitted of all charges.

R v PB – David acted as a leading junior in a multi-handed VHCC case arising from a serious and far-reaching allegation of care home neglect. This case was part of one of South Wales’ largest criminal investigations, and David successfully secured an acquittal for his client.

R v JDS – David represented a man apparently suffering from paranoid schizophrenia who was charged with a shocking, unprovoked Section 18 that occurred in the public area of a Bristol shopping centre. The case resulted in a mental health disposal.

R v KB – David represented one of five defendants charged with assisting an offender to flee the country after a murder in central Bristol.

In the last few years David has conducted numerous inter-regional, multi-handed drug-trafficking conspiracies, typically involving covert surveillance, PII and subsequent confiscation proceedings. These offences can span from street level dealing to the transportation of huge quantities of class A substances by so called “county lines” operations.

R v TW – David is instructed to represent one of two defendants currently charged with operating an industrial-scale cannabis factory in Gloucester, using imported labour from Eastern Europe.

R v RR & others – David represented a man charged within Operation Jackdaw 1, a large-scale police operation against county lines class A drug dealing in South Wales.

R v ES & others – David is also instructed to defend one of 22 defendants in Operation Jackdaw 2. This is another extensive county lines drugs trafficking operation involving the transportation of multi-kilogram quantities of class A drugs into South Wales. This case is set to be heard in the summer of 2019 in Cardiff Crown Court.

R v RM – David successfully prosecuted the lead defendant in a case of Conspiracy to Supply Class A Drugs, involving the presentation of a significant volume of digital and telephonic evidence. The defendant was alleged to be London-based drugs supplier coordinating a regional drugs supply network targeting the city of Bath. This case was the culmination of a very large and lengthy police investigation (Operation Hydra) into the distribution of class A drugs in the city.

In recent years David has received instruction in cases involving a variety of regulatory offences. These have included consumer protection & intellectual property offences with large multi-count indictments, as well as an almost unique case relating to the Ancient Monuments Archaeological Areas Act 1979.

Swansea Council v RD – Defence of a trader charged with a 12-count indictment alleging infringements of the Companies Act 2006, Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981, and the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

R v RL & others – David represented one of the defendants in the ground-breaking £21m pyramid scheme fraud heard in Bristol. This was the first prosecution of its kind after new Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, were enacted.

R v RP – David acted for one of four defendants prosecuted for the unlawful production and supply of unlicensed vinyl records to members of the public. The defendants faced over 30 counts, including offences under the Trade Marks Act 1994 and the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

English Heritage v RP – David was instructed to prosecute a man charged with vandalising a 5,000-year-old monument in Somerset. David acted for the English Heritage, who brought the prosecution under the Ancient Monument Archaeological Areas Act 1979, after the “Priddy Circles” in Somerset had been irreparably damaged.

R v DG and Others – David represented the lead defendant in an alleged conspiracy to profit from the unlawful disposal of environmentally sensitive industrial waste.