William Sneddon

Practice Profile

William practices across all areas of criminal law and has a busy Crown Court practice, with a particular focus on cases involving violence, drug supply, firearms, and sexual misconduct. He has a calm and approachable manner with his clients and presents robust and persuasive advocacy in the courtroom.

William is regularly instructed to deal with serious and complex matters as both sole and junior counsel. He has recently been instructed as junior trial counsel in cases involving murder; conspiracy to defraud over £10 million; and supply of tens of kilograms of class A drugs. He also has significant experience representing youth clients and clients with mental illness.

William is known for his comprehensive trial preparation and attention to detail. He can confidently deal with documentary and expert evidence in respect of telephone and cell site data, DNA, and other forms of forensic evidence.

In addition to his trial work, William has obtained leave for appeals to both the Court of Appeal and the High Court. Most recently, he successfully applied to overturn his client’s conviction after it was discovered that one of the jurors had been conducting their own independent research.

Before coming to the Bar, William gained a range of specialist experience. He spent a year working for a boutique law firm in Malaysia, drafting appellate submissions for the Malaysian Federal Court that were instrumental in achieving the exoneration of death row inmates charged with either murder or drug trafficking. Prior to this, he spent nine months in the USA investigating and preparing capital defence cases with Mississippi’s Office of Capital Defense Counsel and also spent a year practising civil law during his time as a County Court Advocate.

William's Privacy Policy can be downloaded here.

Memberships

• Criminal Bar Association
• South Eastern Circuit
• Young Legal Aid Lawyers
• Human Rights Lawyers Association
• The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple

Appointments

• CPS Grade 2 Prosecutor
• Social Mobility Advocate of the Bar Council of England and Wales 2021
• Treasurer of the Inner Temple Junior Bar Association (2020 – 2022)
• President of the Inner Temple Junior Bar Association (2022 – 2024)
• Judicial reverse mentor

Scholarships & Prizes

• 2021                  Pegasus Scholarship (Washington, USA), Pegasus Trust
• 2019                  Award for Excellence in Advocacy, Criminal Bar Association
• 2018                  Ede and Ravenscroft Prize, Inner Temple
• 2016                  Internship Award, Inner Temple
• 2016                  Travel Award, Northumbria University
• 2015                  Travel Award, Northumbria University
• 2015                  Winner, Bar Mooting Competition, Northumbria University
• 2015                  Exhibition Award, Inner Temple

Publications

Malaysia’s Test for Incompetence of Counsel, Outdated from its inception? [2019] 5 MLJ xviii

News

There are no recent cases in this practice area.