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Jessica Clarke criminal barrister london

Jessica Clarke

Junior Counsel

CALLED

2006

"A crowd-pleaser for getting to the point, however awkward it might be."

Legal 500

 
 
 

On this page

Jessica specialises in criminal and military law.

Jessica’s practice has always been a mixture of both prosecution and defence as she is of the firm belief that the experience this brings, is advantageous to her clients. She is highly experienced in the handling of expert witnesses – particularly in the fields of pathology, injury inflicted as a result of sexual offences, firearms, and drugs.

Her defence work is predominantly the most serious sexual allegations, often involving vulnerable adults and children. She is enormously experienced in handling cases of the upmost sensitivity and clients know that she will work tirelessly to achieve the right result.

Jessica also has a strong defence practice in cases concerning the supply and trafficking of class A drugs. Finding holes in apparently strong case, often resulting in the Crown offering no evidence.

She regularly defends those accused of financial crime. Her recent cases ranging from allegations of defrauding the elderly to frauds perpetrated by bank employees against customers.

Jessica was selected as a CPS grade four panel advocate in 2021. Since then, she has frequently led on complex and serious multi handed cases. 

The range of offences in Jessica’s practice is diverse – Homicide, sexual offences, firearms, serious violence, supply of drugs, high value conspiracies.

Jessica is a specialist Military Court advocate. She regularly defends members of the Armed Forces accused of sexual and violent offences.

Notable Cases

Drugs

R v H, 2023

H was accused of the importation of over 2 millions pounds of class A drugs. Following numerous written representations and disclosure requests, the Crown offered no evidence.

R v T, 2023

T had two previous convictions for the supply of Class A drugs and the case included detailed cell site evidence. He was acquitted of the possession of criminal property and the jury failed to reach a verdict on the supply of class A drugs.

R v S, 2023

S was accused of running a county line between London and Portsmouth. There was a vast quantity of phone evidence however Jessica served an application to dismiss on the basis that it could not be established which class A drug was being supplied.  The Crown offered no evidence in response to the application.

Drugs
Financial Crime

R v FA, 2026

Jessica is currently instructed as leading counsel for a defendant accused of defrauding her local authority to the tune of £100,000. The allegation is that she used funds intended to pay for the care of her son on other expenses.

R v MB, 2024

Jessica represented a Polish national accused of conspiring to launder over 26 million pounds. Her client’s role was that of courier. Jessica argued that his prosecution amounted to an abuse of the Court’s process as he had already been convicted and sentenced for a substantive offence during the conspiracy dates.

R v S, 2023

S is a former bank employee accused of accessing the account details of several customers allowing frauds to be perpetrated on their accounts.

R v D&D, 2023

Jessica defended in a trial involving the allegation of fraud against a blind elderly man. The trial involved handwriting evidence, jurisdiction issues and matters of South African property law.

Financial Crime
General Crime

R v C & 6 others, 2023

Jessica led for the prosecution in this seven handed conspiracy. The defendants were convicted of 70 offences of burglary and targeted theft of high value vehicles valued at over £500,000.

 R v C & 3 others, 2023

Lead counsel in a four handed conspiracy. The defendants were involved in sophisticated burglaries and armed robberies.

Read more on Standard

R v G & 4 others, 2023

Lead counsel in an incident of gang violence which erupted early one morning in South London after a party broke down in disagreement. A shotgun was brought to the scene and discharged into a crowd. Further weapons were deployed by those on “both sides” of the fracas. Convictions included s.18 grievous bodily harm and possession of firearms with intention to endanger life, and for others, with intent to cause fear of violence.

Private Prosecutions
International Human Rights

R v S, 2025

Jessica represented a defendant accused of threatening to kill a senior family court judge. He was also accused of malicious communications by plastering the Central Family Court with posters containing obscenities. Jessica argued that he was exercising his right to protest against the treatment he had received in the family court proceedings involving his child. The defendant was acquitted.

International Human Rights
Murder and Manslaughter

2024

Jessica represented Hongchi Xiao, accused of Gross Negligence Manslaughter in relation to the death of a 60 year old diabetic who died at his Paida Lajin workshop

Read more here

Murder and Manslaughter
Rape and Sexual Offences

R v GH, 2026

Jessica is instructed as leading counsel for the defendant. He is accused of 29 child sex offences against eleven former students at Newlands School in Seaford in the 1980s.

Read more on BBC News

R v C, 2025

Jessica prosecuted a nurse working in the Emergency Department UCLH. He was convicted of sexually assaulting an eighteen year old woman by performing unnecessary examinations of her breasts and genitalia under the guise of a medically justified procedure.

R v J, 2025

Jessica prosecuted a defendant accused of raping and sexually assaulting two women he met online. He was sentenced to a sixteen year extended sentence.

R v CS, 2025

Jessica represented a defendant accused of multiple rapes of a man he had met in a nightclub. Through careful analysis of the telephone evidence ad CCTV, the complainant was discredited and the defendant was acquitted on all counts.

R v MN, 2025

Jessica represented a defendant accused of sexually assaulting his sister when they were both children. Jessica successfully demonstrated that the complainant had an ulterior motive for making the allegations and the defendant was acquitted.

R v NK, 2025

Jessica prosecuted a defendant convicted of targeting a lone 14 year old girl in a park and raping her before introducing her to a friend of his who did the same. The evidence against the defendant was, in the main DNA including Y-STR profiling. He was sentenced to fourteen years.

R v C, 2024

Jessica prosecuted an army officer accused of raping a fellow officer when they were both officer cadets in Sandhurst Military Academy.

R v A, 2024

Jessica represented a young man accused of sexually assaulting two women when they, and he were children. The defence involved in depth analysis of the various accounts given by all witnesses over the intervening years. There was also evidence of Class A drug use by the parents in charge of the children at the time of the offending. This was adduced to demonstrate the unreliability of the recollections of witnesses and the unsafe environment that the parties grew up in. The defendant was acquitted of all counts concerning both complaints.

R v J, 2024

Jessica’s client was acquitted of six counts of rape, strangulation and forced labour. Jessica demonstrated that the complainant had, in the past, made allegations that were demonstrably false.

R v D&C, 2023

Jessica’s client was acquitted of perpetrating the most serious sexual offences against his partner’s five year old child.

R v H, 2023

H was a member of the Armed Forces accused of the rape of a German national in Germany. The Military Court in Sennelagar was re-opened for the first time since its closure in 2019 for this trial. He was acquitted of all counts.

R v N, 2022

N was an extremely vulnerable young woman accused of sexual activity with a child family member. She suffered from several communication and learning difficulties. She was acquitted of all counts.

R v R, 2022

R was a soldier in the British Army accused of sexually assaulting his colleague. He was acquitted of all counts.

Read more on the Dailymail

R v M, 2022

M was represented a soldier in the British Army accused of sexually assaulting the young daughter of another soldier. Following representations about the reliability of the prosecution witnesses, the prosecution offered no evidence and he was acquitted.

Rape and Sexual Offences

Achievements

Memberships
  • Criminal Bar Association
  • South Eastern Circuit
Appointments
  • CPS Panel (Grade 4)
Education
  • BPP Professional Education
  • Bar Vocational Course 2004