Profile

Richard specialises in serious crime, including murder, serious fraud, importation and supply of drugs, armed robbery, rape, money laundering and crimes of violence. Richard has a particular interest in dealing with the more complex “paperwork-heavy” cases and is able to cut to the heart of the issues in such cases and be able to distill the evidence against a client from a mass of paper and say precisely what the strengths and weaknesses of the case are very early on. Importantly, he can communicate this to the client in terms he will understand. Richard is often able to make technical objections as to points of fact and/or law and has been instructed as a leading junior in large and complex cases and has experience working on VHCC panels.

Notable Cases

R -v- Rochford (Court of Appeal) 2010

Richard Bentwood has won on appeal against his client’s conviction and sentence for contempt of court for refusing to amend a defence case statement when ordered to do so by the trial judge. It was held that any order by a judge to comply with the requirements of ss 5(5) and 6A of the Criminal Investigation and Procedure Act 1996 to serve a defence statement in the required form, was no more than an articulation of those provisions, and a court does not have any power to punish non-compliance as a contempt of court. The sanction for such a failure is explicit in s 11 of the statute; an adverse inference can be drawn. The judge had no power to rule as he did and the finding of and sentence for contempt was quashed.

R-v- Rhudd (Croydon Crown Court)

Instructed as leading counsel on behalf of Mr Rhudd who was charged with being a ringleader in the riot at the Harmondsworth detention centre. This was a particularly complex case with over 4000 hours of CCTV evidence and damage to the establishment running in excess of 2.5 million pounds. Mr Rhudd was one of only 2 people acquitted in this 7-handed trial.

R-v- Doyle (Portsmouth Crown Court)

Instructed as leading junior for the first defendant in a 7 handed drugs importation involving over 450 kilos of cocaine hidden inside yams and other Jamaican produce. This case relied heavily on mobile phone evidence and the telephone data alone ran to over 40,000 calls. Through a proper analysis of such data and the production of schedules and flow charts, Richard was able to identify to the jury ‘missing defendants’ responsible for the commission of the offence. Mr Doyle was acquitted of importation of class A drugs.

R-v- Franklyn (Reading Crown Court)

Instructed as leading junior in a substantial multi-handed conspiracy to supply millions of pounds worth of drugs. The case involved thousands of hours of covert surveillance and complex negotiations with VHCC contract managers.

R -v- Blake (Ipswich Crown Court)

Instructed as leading junior in Operation Wolfe, a 17-handed drugs conspiracy involving the supply of class A drugs in and around Ipswich. Mr Blake was alleged to be the principal conspirator in this matter. This case involved many thousands of pages of surveillance and mobile phone evidence.

R-v- Jatto (Central Criminal Court)

Instructed in a 7-handed gang murder.

R-v- Pottinger (Reading Crown Court)

A complex and unusual case involving the death by neglect of Mr Pottinger's wife who starved to death whilst in his care.

R-v- Lynch

Instructed in an historic murder following the defendants’ extradition from Jamaica. This case was amongst the first murders to feature on BBC’s Crimewatch.

R-v-Boufenchouche (Kingston Crown Court)

Inside dealing bank fraud. This case involved an examination of the protocols and systems used within a High Street building society and a challenge to the own banks internal fraud audit identifying the defendant as responsible for the crime. After a successful challenge, the case was dismissed with the defendant being shown to have no case to answer.

R -v- Foster (Central Criminal Court)

Successfully defended allegations in relation to the rape of minors.

R-v- Matta (Kingston Crown Court)

Importation of class A drugs of exceptional purity.

R-v- Charles (Blackfriars Crown Court)

Instructed in a case of supply of class A drugs which involved a challenge to the DNA evidence incorporating a complex cross-examination on issues of transference of DNA, as well as the statistical analysis of the national database.