Sarah Forshaw KC is co-head of chambers, and alongside her colleague Mark Heywood KC, she has helped to build 5KBW into a genuine powerhouse at the criminal bar.
Sarah has been described by an independent FT journalist as ‘The criminal barrister of choice if you can get her’.
Her reputation as a fearless and fearsome advocate, able to tackle the most complex, high-profile or sensitive cases, has enabled her to maintain an impressive, busy practice since taking silk. Sarah has represented clients in some of the most high-profile cases of recent years, earning plaudits from all sides for the quality of her strategic thinking as well as her advocacy, attention to detail and total professionalism. She has been described as a ‘tactical and strategic genius’, ‘an expert in the persuasion of a jury’ and someone who will ‘fight to the death for her client.’ She is now ‘at the very top of her game.’
A significant proportion of Sarah’s practice involves high-profile and often high-net-worth clients. However, she makes a point of continuing to accept one or two legal aid-funded cases every year.
Sarah is frequently instructed to defend professional clients in the most demanding and technical cases of fraud. Sarah successfully argued for the dismissal of all charges against her client in Operation Lunar, a multi-million tax fraud using capital loss relief.
She is a firm believer that the best advocates are those who have undertaken both prosecution and defence work and she herself has successfully prosecuted cases for the Serious Fraud Office, including all defendants in a long running £80m PONZI fraud.
Sarah has established a formidable reputation at the Central Criminal Court for tenacious and skilful defence in complex cases of homicide, violence and organised crime.
She has defended in more than 50 Old Bailey murder trials. Among her notable successes are the defence of one of 19 boys accused of the murder of a 15-year-old schoolboy at Victoria station, and of a 17-year-old boy charged with a double murder in Leytonstone in a drug-related gang attack. Sarah is often sought out to represent young defendants, particularly in joint enterprise killings, and she was involved in the post “Jogee” appeals of a number of defendants. She represented the first defendant in the Jodie Chesney murder. Her client was unanimously acquitted of both murder and manslaughter. More recently, Sarah represented the first defendant in a lengthy multi-handed shooting murder. The trial lasted five months and, although the prosecution’s case was that he was the ringleader, Sarah’s client was the only one to be acquitted of murder.
Alongside her criminal practice, Sarah is often instructed to appear before regulatory bodies, primarily for members of the medical profession. Recent cases before the General Medical Council include the successful reinstatement of a doctor accused and subsequently cleared of raping a nurse, and the trial at GMC (following acquittals in the Crown Court) of another doctor against whom a young patient had made allegations of numerous sexual assaults, all of which were found not proven by the GMC.
Sarah has an impressive record of success in complex and high-profile cases. She represented the only individual to be acquitted in a multi-handed international conspiracy to import £5m of cocaine from South America and successfully prosecuted the “Fake Sheikh”, Mazher Mahmood, for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
Sarah is frequently instructed to represent high-profile individuals charged under the Sexual Offences Act and her track record marks her out as a leader in this field.
Her recent notable cases include the successful defence in 2025 of a solicitor charged with rape, and of a company director charged with three counts of sexual assault. In 2024, she successfully represented, among others, a solicitor facing allegations of rape, a property developer facing allegations of false imprisonment and assault, and a company director charged with rape and other serious sexual offences. In 2023, she represented the son of a very prominent family from overseas, who was acquitted of numerous counts of rape, false imprisonment and sexual assault. Other former lay clients include a senior solicitor (the husband of a well-known TV personality), charged with two counts of rape, a well-respected senior doctor accused of sexual assaults on patients, publicist Max Clifford (against a second round of allegations from the 1970s, of which he was acquitted), and a member of the House of Lords.
Her skill and experience in cases involving historic sexual allegations are unrivalled.
She is often instructed to provide pre-charge advice with a view to bringing proceedings to an end at the very earliest stage.
Sarah is a contributor to Current Practice in Forensic Medicine [Vol 3], having co-written the Chapter on Disclosure in Cases involving Sexual Allegations.
