Penny Muir
Partner
020 3811 5143
Originally qualified in New Zealand, she re-qualified in the UK in 1985 and has specialised in the defence of Serious Organised Crime since then.
Background
She is one of the most senior leading women criminal defence practitioners in London with a longstanding wide and varied client base across many communities e.g. the Vietnamese, Turkish, Italian and Iranian communities in particular.
Her caseload spans cases as diverse as murder (she has a particular interest in the defence of murder allegations), fraud, drugs trafficking and people trafficking.
She has been a partner in this practice for over ten years.
Cases of note:
- R v SW – the defendant was involved in what was said to be the longest domestic siege in police history. The incident took place in Hull, and subsequently it featured in a television documentary about such incidents.
- R v PT and others – the murder by shooting that took place in the Royal Free hospital in London, causing great concern at the time about hospital security. It transpired that the shooting was carried out by the first known “hitwoman” in the UK.
- R v K and another – concerned the sale of bogus lordship titles, mostly to wealthy Americans, causing a degree of national amusement.
- R v DW – a “cold case” murder involving a hitman and much scandal, of the wife-swapping variety, in 1970s London.
- R v PG – a case concerning the bizarre sexual “experiments” carried out by an apparently well-respected GP in the north of England – attracted national attention especially in the more scandal fixated tabloid press.
- R v AT and others – the notorious alleged plot to kidnap Victoria Beckham and her sons – largely orchestrated by the News of the World newspaper.
- R v IT and others – a recent case of alleged large-scale people smuggling. We represented the 1st defendant on the indictment.
Legal 500 2022
"Partner specialising in all forms of criminal defence work, including gang-related violent crime, large-scale drugs cases, tobacco and cigarette importations, conspiracies to facilitate immigration, fraud, etc. She has defended in many cases investigated by SOCA, HM Revenue and Customs as well as prosecutions by the CPS Organised Crime Division. Recent cases include a people-smuggling ring, when she represented a Turkish client who was one of ten defendants; a conspiracy to supply cocaine, involving six Albanian defendants; and a £6m cigarette and wine duty evasion case. She has a large client base in the East End of London , as well as extensive links in the Albanian, Iranian and Afghani communities. Her current cases include an SFO prosecution in which her client is alleged to have been involved in a conspiracy to defraud the Allied Irish Bank of £65m; and an alleged conspiracy, R v JH and others, involving ten defendants accused of importing cannabis on a very substantial scale from continental Europe using haulage companies, of which her client is a director of one. Both cases are due to be tried later this year. She also represents a suspect in an East and West Midland-wide enquiry by HMRC into an alleged conspiracy to smuggle raw tobacco and machinery into the UK to be used in the production of counterfeit cigarettes and tobacco in the UK; charges expected in May/June. Penny recently successfully defended a serving soldier in the British Army in this country and has now been instructed in a court martial in Germany to be held in May/June involving an allegation of death by dangerous driving against a British army soldier based there."
Penny Muir has been cited as a notable lawyer by The Legal 500 2022 Edition. Click here to see Penny's Legal 500 profile in full.
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Celebrating 39 years of practice in 2021, we are leaders in criminal defence, serious fraud, serious crime and many other areas of legal practice. We have been involved in many leading cases over the last 35+ years and are well known for our genuinely high acquittal rate and overall success rate. Please click the Legal 500 logo below for more information about our rankings.
