William Carter, leading Abigail Robinson, obtain manslaughter convictions at Norwich Crown Court.

William Carter, leading Abigail Robinson, instructed by East of England CPS, obtained the convictions of three defendants for manslaughter following a four week trial at Norwich Crown Court.

Evidence relied on by the Prosecution

The case concerned the death of man who had been assaulted by the three defendants (along with a fourth male who was originally charged put passed away prior to trial) on 19 September 2023. The assault caused the victim to sustain fractured ribs which resulted in a punctured lung. Over the coming days, the victim’s injuries worsened with his level of pain gradually increasing. On the morning of 23 September 2023, his partner awoke to find he had passed away overnight and she raised the alarm.

The Prosecution relied on substantial CCTV evidence which showed the movements of the victim and his partner both prior to the assault and in the days between the assault and his death. The CCTV evidence showed that there had been no further assaults or incidents which could have caused the fatal injuries. The Prosecution further relied on recordings of phone calls made by the first Defendant from prison which referred to the incident in question.

Trial issues and expert evidence

The defence advanced by all three defendants was one of causation. As such, the prosecution relied on expert evidence from an osteoarticular pathologist, who was able to date the fracture of the bone as occurring within a period encompassing the assault on 19 September 2023. The Prosecution also relied on expert evidence from an forensic pathologist, as to the cause of death.

During the course of the trial, the Prosecution successfully applied to adduce a selection of each of the Defendant’s previous convictions for violent offences.

Verdict

The jury unanimously convicted all three defendants of manslaughter after 4 hours 13 minutes of deliberations.

Sentence

All three Defendants were sentenced on 3 July. The first and third defendants received sentences of 8 years with the second defendant receiving a sentence of 7 years, reduced to take account of totality as he also fell to be sentenced for an unrelated matter.

Press coverage

Norfolk Constabulary
Norwich Evening News

About the Barristers

William Carter was called to the bar in 1989. He is ranked Band 1 Crime in Chambers UK Bar 2026 which quotes “William Carter is as good as you can get” and ‘Leading Junior’ Tier 2 Crime in Legal 500 2026. Will prosecutes and defends in many of the most serious criminal cases, and regularly appears as leading junior in cases ranging from murder to fraud.

Abigail Robinson was called to the bar in 2020. She has a busy practice both prosecuting and defending across a wide range of offences, including serious violence, section 18 wounding, sexual assault and drug related crime. Abigail is often instructed in cases involving extremely vulnerable defendants.

To instruct Will and Abigail, contact their clerks Steve McCarthy or Amie Harris on 020 7404 1881.