Michelle Denney was admitted as a Solicitor in 2002 having completed her Police Station Accreditation in 2001 during her Training Contract.

She qualified in Manchester and completed the first 10 years of her practice in criminal defence there during which time she gained her Higher Rights of Audience in 2007.

Michelle has experience of dealing with a wide range of offences including drugs, burglary, robbery, firearms and assault and regularly represents clients at the Police Station, the Magistrates’ Courts and the Crown Courts.

She has also conducted several successful appeals against sentence in the Court of Appeal. She manages her own case load of Crown Court cases and undertakes litigation work in addition to her work as Magistrates and Crown Court Advocate. Michelle is a qualified Legal Aid Supervisor.

Michelle has experience in arguing against and negotiating terms on various types of ancillary orders available to the Court when passing sentence and negotiated a significantly reduced Criminal Behaviour Order for a Client convicted of drug offences (R v A-T 2019). She has been commended by Judges and her Peers on the quality of her written and oral legal arguments regarding bad character and hearsay evidence.

She appeared at the Court of Appeal where she successfully appealed the terms of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (R v B 2019).

Michelle has taken part in a voluntary scheme of mentoring young people organised by a Resident Judge at one of our local Crown Courts where local schools participate in mock trials.

Michelle’s Notable Cases;

• R v M [2017] Client acquitted after trial of conspiring to intimidate a witness.
• R v S [2018] Michelle represented a young person in a 6 day trial at the Central Criminal Court charged with a robbery where the Adult Co-Defendant produced an imitation firearm and ran a cut-throat defence
• R v H-F [2018] Michelle successfully represented a woman of good character charged with theft in breach of trust from an elderly lady for whom she was employed as a career at the time of the alleged offence. She was unanimously acquitted by the jury
• R v B [2021} Michelle was successfully in opposing the Prosecution application for a Criminal Behaviour Order following lengthy written and oral submissions.
• R v S {2021} Michelle represented Client charged with an allegation of Wounding with Intent to Cause GBH where he was acquitted after trial.
• R v C [2021] Michelle represented Client at his trial and subsequent re-trial for an offence of wounding for which he was acquitted.
• R v A-P {2021} Client faced serious allegations of robbery one of which was a targeted offence of car-jacking. The trial required Michelle to make lengthy legal submissions regarding the admission of hearsay and bad character evidence.
• R v R-A [2021} Client charged with wounding with intent for which he was alleged to be part of a group in a targeted knife attack captured on CCTV. Michelle was successful in persuading the Judge that the Defendant was not dangerous and that a determinate sentence was appropriate.
• R v H [2022] Client pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to cause GBH. Michelle was successful in arguing that he was not a dangerous offender (or was no longer so) despite previously having been found to be dangerous.