Waheed Baber

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Top Ranked in Legal 500 2020 & 2021:
Waheed Baber is recommended in the Legal 500 2020 edition as a leading junior for his criminal practice on the Northern Circuit, ‘Handles difficult clients with ease.'

Waheed has amassed a significant amount of experience in general and serious crime. He has recently joined Kenworthy's Chambers, having spent 4 years as an employed criminal defence barrister with a prominent firm of solicitors based on the Fylde Coast. Prior to this Waheed was at the independent bar in Liverpool and Preston. He was also instructed to defend out of jurisdiction in Pakistan by Bhalli Law Associates in Lahore.

In addition to this Waheed is instructed to both prosecute and defend in matter concerning Licencing by Blackpool Council Enforcement. Waheed takes pride in each case he is instructed in, has an eye for detail and considered to be a robust advocate. He is committed to providing the highest standards of client care.

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Reported Cases

Recent Notable Cases - Serious Crime:

• R v Ohaegbu (2017) - Acquittal for defendant accused of kidnapping a 16-year-old girl with intent to commit a sexual offence. Press Coverage

• R v David Potts [2015] – Male charged with others with s18 and kidnap, where the prosecution alleged that he together with others tortured another and set frim to his face. Jury was discharged due to disclosure issues, at Preston Crown Court. Press Coverage.

• R v Saqib Hussain [2015] – Successful Defence of a male charged with 4 other family members charged with s18 assault. Mr Hussain was said to have, with others struck another male to head with a hammer several times.

• R v Anthony Wilde [2014] – Successful defence of a male charged with 12 others or conspiracy to supply heroin. Mr Wilde was caught by the police with over a 1kg of heroin in the back of his vehicle. The trial took place at Preston Crown Court and was prosecuted by a silk.

• R v Matthew Bramhall [2013] – (Defence Junior) Successful Defence to the extent that Mr Bramhall was acquitted of Murder, but found guilty of Manslaughter, defence was successful in obtaining a sentence of 5 years for Mr Bramhall. Press Coverage.

• R v Jeremy Lowe [2013] – Defence of a male charged with 10 others with conspiracy to supply cocaine. The evidence was by way of extensive telephonic records amounting to thousands of pages and required careful analysis. Press Coverage.

• R v Nigel Gregory [2011] – Successful Defence by having 9 out of the 10 charges against Mr Gregory dismissed. He was charged with fraud of ABTA, by taking funds from holiday makers and then not paying for the holidays they had booked and fraudulent use of the ABTA logo, when he had ceased to be a member. Press Coverage.

• R v Faizal Patel [2010] – Successful defence of a male charged with s18 assault against a lone female by using a broken bottle.

Recent Notable Cases - General Crime:

• R v Sangwine (2016) Successful defence of young mum who confronted neighbour with a kitchen knife. Press coverage

• R v David Carney [2014] – Successful Defence of male charged with dwelling Burglary. Mr Carney admitted presence in the dwelling, but for innocent purposes. He believed that he entered the premises to rescue a stranded rabbit. The Jury found him not guilty.

• R v Beverley White [2013] - Defence of a female charged with extensive DWP fraud amounting to over £40,000. Successfully the defence argued for a suspended sentence.

• R v Rachel O’Callaghan [2013] – Successful Defence of a female charged with affray and procession of a knife in a public place. Ms O’ Callaghan maintained that she simply did not carry out the offence, the jury found her not guilty.

• R v Kyle Collins [2012] – Successful Defence of a youth (13 years old) charged with 2 adults for a string of burglaries. Master Collins stated that he did not know the adults were going to commit any burglaries. The Jury acquitted him.

• R v Bradley White [2010] – Successful Defence of man for breaching his Restraining Order at Burnley Crown Court. He suffered from significant mental health issues and had breached his order on 6 previous occasions.

• R v Nazir Ahmed [2010] – Successful defence of a male charged with dangerous driving. The case involved technical legal argument as to the conduct of the driver and whether it fell far below the standard of a reasonable and competent driver.

Recent Notable Cases - Rape And Sexual Offences:

• R v Jason McCaughrey [2015] – Successful defence of a male charged with Historic violent sex offences against his then partner and step daughter. Mr McCaughrey was suffering from extensive mental health and psychological issues at the time of the trial. Waheed was commended by the judge for his skills.

• R v Peter Study [2014] – Defence of a male caught by police having anal sex in public with another male who appeared unconscious (Rape). This case involved very technical legal arguments regarding consent and when it is vitiated, despite there being consent at the start of the sexual contact. Defence successful in keeping the sentence exceptionally low. Press Coverage.

• R v Keith Simpson [2014] – Defence of a 35 year old male, with a mental age of 13 charged with sexual touching of a 6 year old boy. Mr Simpson was suffering from serious mental health issues at the time. Waheed was commended by the judge for his skill and handling of the case. Press Coverage.

• R v Shazad Khan [2010] – Successful Defence of a male changed with sexual assault in a night club. Mr Khan maintained the touching was inadvertent and without any sexual intent or purpose, the jury acquitted Mr Khan.

• R v Roger Mason [2010] – Successful Defence of a male charged with downloading child pornography. After cross examination of experts at Liverpool Crown Court it became clear that he could have inadvertently downloaded the images, as they had never been accessed.

Recent Notable Cases - Regulatory/Licencing:

• Blackpool Council v Hooper [2015] – Successfully argued that reduction of the benefit figure and realisable amount in relation to proceeds for counterfeit merchandise.

• Blackpool Council v Roger Bishop [2015] – Successfully argued the reduction of benefit figure, court declared no hidden assets after legal arguments.

• Blackpool Council v Mark Brown [2010] – Successful prosecution of male who breached the landau taxi by laws. Mr Brown after being convicted appealed to the Crown Court, where his case appeal was dismissed. He took the matter to the Divisional Court where his case was dismissed.

• Rochdale Council v Sajid Hussain [2010] – Successful Defence appeal after local authority revoked a taxi licence having relied on unsubstantiated allegations of misconduct.

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