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Thom Dyke
Call: 2007 (Inner Temple)
- Criminal and regulatory law
- Public and human rights law
- Judicial Review
- Education law
- Civil law (including contract, landlord and tenant and personal injury work)
Thom is described by his instructing solicitors as “an exceptionally talented young barrister” and “an excellent advocate whose personal approach to our clients is second to none”. He “has always achieved a desirable result for both the client and the firm, thanks to his expert knowledge in criminal law, his professionalism, and his integrity”. “He has also shown to have the ability to think strategically and back his approach with sound legal reasoning which sets him apart from other junior counsel.”
He has a busy practice, focused on serious criminal defence and prosecution work. Thom is a CPS Grade 2 Panel Advocate, and has additional experience prosecuting for the London Probation Trust, Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC).
He represents clients from the magistrates’ court all the way up to the Court of Appeal and has an increasingly wide range of experience in both jury trials and appellate advocacy.
He has extensive experience of drafting pleadings in both civil and criminal cases and is happy to turn around work for clients in cases where time is of the essence.
Recently Thom has expanded his public law practice, especially in the area of education where he has experience of running discrimination and human rights claims and representing clients at Independent Appeal Panels and the First Tier Tribunal. Thom also has experience of local government law and social security claims.
Having undertaken civil pupillage at Hardwicke, where he specialised in public and property law, Thom still accepts instructions in these areas, particularly in civil cases where there are complex issues of concurrent criminal liability. He has experience of the full spectrum of civil law practice, including property, landlord and tenant, personal injury and contractual claims.
Thom brings a robust style of advocacy to representing civil clients in the county courts and High Court and has obtained successful outcomes both in court and in negotiated settlement at mediation.
Notable Cases
R v Saunders and others (2013)
Croydon Crown Court – Represented the first defendant on the indictment, who was acquitted of a five-handed affray following a three-week trial, after running a successful cutthroat defence against her co-defendants, who were convicted.
R v Williams (2013)
Wolverhampton Crown Court – Acquittal after trial for a client accused of GBH and ABH.
R v Power [2012] EWCA Crim 2374
Court of Appeal – Successful appeal against sentence in a £30,000 benefit fraud. Custodial sentence overturned and replaced with a suspended sentence with 40 hours unpaid work.
R v Bennett and others (2012)
Guildford Crown Court – Instructed on a six-handed conspiracy to supply Class A drugs case, brought as part of Operation Chalice. Advised in respect of complex PII issues surrounding the disclosure and admissibility of evidence from undercover test purchase officers.
R v Stables and others (2012)
Kingston Crown Court – Defendant acquitted following a three-handed trial for ABH.
R v James (2012)
Old Bailey – Obtained a suspended sentence for a defendant charged with theft of £15,000 from his employer in breach of a high degree of trust.
R v Hill (2012)
Inner London Crown Court – Represented one of the 2011 ‘London rioters’ at trial.
R (on the application of F) v London Borough of Bromley (February 2012, unreported)
Administrative Court – Judicial review proceedings against a decision to permanently exclude, involving a novel point of law relating to the Academies Act 2010.
R v Wroblewski [2011] EWCA Crim 2093
Court of Appeal – Successful appeal against sentence in case involving evading £200,000 of excise duty.
R v Glowacki (2012)
Woolwich Crown Court – Successful appeal against sentence for theft.
R v Lam (2011)
Blackfriars Crown Court – Successful appeal against conviction for theft.
R v Suckling (2011)
Folkestone Magistrates’ Court – Acquittal following trial on charges under the Firearms Act 1968 and the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
R v Wilson (2011)
Medway Magistrates’ Court – Successful legal argument to exclude a confession made in interview, under s.76 and s.78 of PACE.
Gryzska v Gulati (2011)
Watford County Court – Successful appeal on behalf of a landlord against order made under s.214 Housing Act 2004 to pay three times the amount of a tenancy deposit to a tenant
Publications
- ‘Is marital coercion defence an anachronism?’, The Times Law, 7 March 2013
- ‘Call for Pryce’s ‘medieval defence’ of marital coercion to be scrapped’, The Times, 7 March 2013
- ‘Why Cameron has got it wrong on judicial review reform’, The Lawyer, 23 November 2012
- ‘Health and Safety Enforcement: Law and Practice – 3rd edition’, Solicitors Journal, 9 April 2012
- ‘Extradition and Mutual Legal Assistance Handbook – 2nd edition’, Solicitors Journal, 5 March 2012
- ‘Judicial Review in an Age of Austerity’, Judicial Review, 2011, (16)3, 202-215
- ‘Class conflict – R (G) v Governors of X School’, Solicitors Journal, 2011, 155(27), 14-15
- ‘Books for budding advocates’, The Times, (20 October 2011)
- ‘Stephen Sedley’s Ashes and Sparks’, The Guardian, 28 April 2011
- ‘Exclusions: a school’s right to decide’, The Guardian, 21 March 2011
- ‘Tom Bingham and the Transformation of the Law’, Public Law, 2011, Jan, 177-182
- ‘Landlords free to ignore deposit protection deadlines’, The Guardian, 15 November 2010
- ‘Geoffrey Robertson QC, The Case of the Pope’, Solicitors Journal, 2010, 154(35)
- ‘A v Essex – The Implications’, The Barrister, 2010, (45), 3-4
- ‘Rights and remedies in housing law’, The Barrister, 2010, (43), 28-29
- ‘Vernon Bogdanor, The New British Constitution’, Judicial Review, 2009, (14)4, 399-404
- ‘A Home for Rights‘, The Barrister, 2009, (42), 16-17
- ‘The high cost of taking a stand and suing your law school’, The Times, (15 October 2009)
- ‘Michael Mansfield QC, Memoirs of a Radical Lawyer‘, New Statesman, (24 September 2009)
- ‘Focus on Article 11’, Judicial Review, 2009, (14)2, 185-196
- ‘Dangerous Minds’, Solicitors Journal, 2009, 153(11), 9
- ‘A conflict of law’, New Law Journal, 2009, 159(7355), 176-177
- ‘Louis Blom-Cooper QC, The Penalty of Imprisonment’, Counsel, (December 2008), p.34
- ‘Reforms Labour’s lost’, New Law Journal, 2008, 158(7335), 1201-1202
- ‘Sex, lies and videotape’, Counsel, (September 2008), pp.9-10
- ‘Is London really able to govern itself or is it simply too chaotic?’, The Times, (21 August 2008)
- ‘Sense on Sharia’, Prospect, (29 February 2008)
- ‘What makes vodka vodka?’, The Times, (13 March 2007)
- ‘Could lawyers and lobbyists ever become bedfellows?’, The Times, (4 April 2006)
Education
- BPP Law School – LLM in Legal Professional Practice (2009)
- BPP Law School – Bar Vocational Course – Very Competent (2007)
- College of Law – Graduate Diploma in Law – Distinction (2006)
- London School of Economics – MSc Political Theory (2004)
- University of Sheffield – BA History & Philosophy – First Class Hons. (2003)
Professional Memberships
- Criminal Bar Association
- South Eastern Circuit
- Constitutional and Administrative Law Bar Association
- Human Rights Lawyers Association
- JUSTICE
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA)
