Vishal Misra

Practice Areas

  • Crime
  • Regulatory
  • Inquests

Vishal is a persuasive and meticulous advocate whose skill in the courtroom showcases his intellect and passion for the work he undertakes. Vishal is highly sought after for his ability to assimilate legally complex and voluminous case material and has an impressive ability to identify gaps in prosecution evidence.

Vishal has a busy criminal practice appearing in the Crown Courts and Court of Appeal, with his main focus being complex criminal defence work. He has extensive experience of working on a wide range of offences including rape and serious sexual offences, serious violence, drugs and fraud. Vishal has carved a particular specialism in cases involving historic child sexual exploitation and understands the pressures and sensitivities of such cases.

Recent instructions include – historic ‘grooming,’ sexual assault, possession of firearms with intent to endanger life, aggravated burglary, large value county line drug operations and a single defendant charged with multiple counts of rape by multiple complainants.

Vishal is dedicated and committed to protecting his clients’ interests and presenting their cases. This has resulted in
Vishal regularly appearing before the Court of Appeal.

Vishal has a regulatory practice as well. He appears for the police forces in bringing misconduct matters against police officers. Alongside this, he has experience in healthcare matters, he has conducted matters for both the NMC and RCN, he has experience in CQC matters and also acts as a Legally Qualified Chair for the General Pharmaceutical Council. Vishal also appears before the Coroner’s Court in inquest hearings.

Vishal is known for his compassionate and personable approach, which allows him to work with vulnerable defendants with substance misuse, mental health and/or personality disorders.

Crime

R v M [2026] – Manchester Crown Court

D charged with 3 counts of rape, 1 count of assault by penetration, 4 counts of non-fatal strangulation and 3 counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. D acquitted of all counts.

R v J [2026] – Inner London Crown Court

D charged with false imprisonment, non-fatal strangulation and assault by beating. Successfully argued no case to answer on strangulation. This led to the strangulation being replaced with another count of assault by beating. D acquitted of all counts.

R v NK and Others – Operation Tempest [2025] Reading Crown Court

Defending in a very large conspiracy to supply Class A and B drugs.

R v JP and Others – Operation Pavarotti [2024] Liverpool Crown Court

Defending in a large ‘grooming’ case of historic child sexual abuse. Vishal’s defendant was convicted of lesser
alternative charges on most of the counts on the indictment.

R v A-H [2024] – Southwark Crown Court

Successfully defending a blind defendant accused of having attacked a security guard and charged with grievous bodily harm with intent.

R v M-O [2024] – Croydon Crown Court

Successfully defending a client accused of assaulting an emergency worker. The jury deliberated for 11 minutes before returning a unanimous acquittal after having seen the body worn video camera and the vast inconsistencies between the footage and the oral evidence of three police officers.

R v TB and Others – Operation Hazelshot [2024] – Bradford Crown Court

Successfully defending in a large multi-handed ‘grooming’ trial. The complainant stopped attending court during her cross-examination. Successfully argued that it would be unfair to continue the trial using Hearsay provisions

pursuant to s.114 Criminal Justice Act. All defendants acquitted.

R v J-C [2023] – City Nightingale Court

Defending in a conspiracy to burgle. The burglary was of a dwelling being used as a commercial cannabis farm. A murder had been committed during the commission of the offence. Successfully argued for a suspended sentence.

R v DB [2023] – Basildon Crown Court

Successfully defended in a case where the defendant was charged with a single count of threatening another with a bladed article in a public place. Despite overwhelming evidence from three eyewitnesses, defendant was acquitted.

R v W [2023] – Croydon Crown Court

Successfully argued that the defendant had no case to answer. The defendant had been charged with 6 counts of assaulting emergency worker. Successfully argued that the defendant, at no point, undertook a positive act that could amount to assault.

R v KA and Others – Operation Hazelshot [2020] – Bradford Crown Court

Defending in a large multi-handed ‘grooming’ trial.

Regulatory

Appropriate Authority v J, H & H [2022]

Three officers who had been sharing explicitly discriminatory in a WhatsApp group were dismissed without notice. The case attracted a large amount of press attention. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-62016109

Court of Appeal

R v H [2023]

Successfully appealed a sentence of immediate custody for a youth who had pleaded guilty to possession of a knife and possession of cannabis. Sentence quashed and replaced with a suspended sentence order.

Inquests

Inquest into Death of BC [2025] (Avon Coroner’s Court)

Representing a nurse in a 3-week inquest. At the end of the inquest, the nurse represented by Vishal faced no criticism from the coroner for the care that she provided. The case was high profile and attracted much press attention: Ben Condon inquest findings ‘everything we fought for’ – BBC News

Reported Cases

R v Greenaway [2025] EWCA Crim 1568
R v Sivyour [2023] EWCA Crim 47

  • The AIRE Centre
  • National Centre for Domestic Violence
  • National Center Against Violence, Mongolia
  • The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple
  • The Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association
  • Proficient: Hindi, Urdu, Panjabi
  • Intermediate: French, Maithili
Criminal Law

Criminal Law

Extradition Law

Extradition

Regulatory Law

Regulatory Law

Immigration Law

Immigration Law

Family Law

Family Law

Public Law

Public Law & Judicial Review

Domestic International

Domestic & International

Corporate & financial Crime

Corporate & Financial

International And Business Law

International Business Law

Employment Law

Employment Law

Prison Law

Prison Law

Licensing

Licensing

Inquiries and Inquests

Inquiries & Inquests

Sports Law

Sports Law