Adrian Darbishire KC

Adrian specialises in the defence of individuals and corporates in relation to financial crime, health and safety breaches and other criminal matters. He has vast experience in this field. He acted in many high-profile cases, including successfully defending individuals in SFO prosecutions such as Barclays LIBOR, Tesco, Serco and Bluu. He acted for Ziad Akle in his successful appeal against conviction in the SFO Unaoil prosecution and represented Tom Hayes in the landmark 2025 Supreme Court decision quashing his conviction for LIBOR manipulation.

His practice also includes the defence of professionals facing other criminal allegations arising from the workplace, such as sexual misconduct and corruption, as well as criminal breaches of duty including misconduct in public office, gross negligence manslaughter and health and safety offences. He is recognised for being extremely bright, thoughtful and creative with a first-class client manner.

The pre-eminent KC when it comes to defending private prosecutions, he has unrivalled expertise in such cases, including relating to candour, disclosure, LPP, confidentiality and the use of investigatory powers. His lateral thinking and outstanding advocacy skills make him ‘capable of winning the seemingly unwinnable’. He acted in many of the leading judicial review cases in this field, examples being cases such as Kay, Haigh, Boris Johnson, Morjaria, Handa and Bates.

Adrian also has long experience in the defence of professionals facing regulatory proceedings, often in parallel with a criminal process. Forensically astute and technically superb, he masters complex medical and scientific evidence and delivers beautifully in court.