Jonathan Wall

Partner - Non Solicitor

Criminal Defence Experience

Jonathan joined Burton Copeland Solicitors in 1990 and has built a career spanning more than 30 years in criminal law. As an experienced criminal defence lawyer in Manchester, he has worked across all stages of criminal case preparation. This experience has helped him develop extensive expertise and a strong reputation in the field.

Serious and Complex Crime

Jonathan now focuses on serious and complex criminal cases. His work includes large-scale fraud, robbery and drug conspiracies. He has also successfully defended clients in complex murder cases.

In recent years, Jonathan has worked extensively on high-profile historic sexual offence cases. These have included cases arising from Operation Yewtree and related investigations.

False Allegations and Disclosure

Jonathan has a particular interest in defending clients facing false allegations. He approaches these cases with a strong commitment to achieving justice and ensuring that every aspect of the evidence receives proper scrutiny.

He takes a meticulous and investigative approach to criminal defence work. Jonathan carefully examines prosecution evidence and disclosure. He also identifies and gathers material that may support the defence case.

Where necessary, he challenges the reliability of evidence and the credibility of allegations to help ensure that his clients receive a fair trial.

Jonathan has extensive experience dealing with complex disclosure issues. His detailed approach has contributed to successful outcomes across a wide range of criminal cases.

His experience also extends to proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA). He has dealt with challenges involving Sexual Offences Prevention Orders and Serious Crime Prevention Orders. Jonathan also represents interested parties at inquests.

Recognition and Awards

The Legal 500 has consistently recognised Jonathan’s expertise. Since 2016, the directory has named him as a “Key Figure”, with particular recognition for his work in historic sexual abuse and sexual offence cases.

In 2017, Jonathan won “Paralegal of the Year” at the Manchester Legal Awards. He became a partner at Burton Copeland the following year.

In doing so, Jonathan became the first non-solicitor to achieve partnership status in the firm’s history. Within a year of becoming a partner, he was shortlisted for “Partner of the Year” at the Manchester Legal Awards.

Legal Writing and Commentary

Jonathan also regularly contributes to legal publications. He writes articles and commentary for Burton Copeland and has contributed to the Law Society’s Messenger.

His work has also appeared as a front-page feature.

Case Studies:

Blackpool Business Man Cleared of Large Fraud Conspiracy

Contact

To contact Jonathan click here to email him direct or call him on 0161 827 9500 or 07789 651334

Notable Cases

• Inquiry into the Grenfell Tower Fire – Jonathan heads a team of five lawyers who have been instructed by the Fire Officers Association who offer representation, help, assistance and guidance for members in particular the Fire Sector Commander who was inside the building and directing operations for the majority of the incident. Jonathan instructed Louis Browne Queens Counsel and co-authored final written submissions at the conclusion of phase 1 of the inquiry which focused on the events on the night of the fire and the emergency response. The inquiry continues.

• Independent Inquiry into Child Abuse – Jonathan was instructed by a witness to the inquiry to prepare submissions to the panel in support of his evidence which was was in direct conflict to that another witness, Richard Farnell, the former leader of Rochdale Council. Jonathan prepared detailed submissions to the inquiry setting out why the evidence of his client should be preferred over that of Mr Farnell. The inquiry later published a report in which it confirmed that it had “carefully considered all the evidence referred to within the letter in reaching our conclusion on this issue” and that the letter “sets out in great detail why, in effect, we should favour [their clients evidence over that of Farnell]”. The conclusion in the report is that “Mr Farnell lied to the Inquiry in the course of his evidence”. Shortly after the publication of the report it was reported that the Metropolitan Police Service were to investigate Mr Farnell for perjury.

• Inquests into the Hillsborough Stadium Disaster. – Commencing on the 31st March 2014 and finishing on 26th April 2016 the inquest made legal history by being the longest ever legal tribunal ever to have taken place.

  Alongside two other partners, Jonathan headed a team overseeing 25 other lawyers representing several clients nominated as interested parties by the Coroner, Lord Justice Goldring.

  “Our clients were granted properly interested party status only a few months before the hearing began which meant that we had to set up a team and systems extremely quickly and ensure that we worked as efficiently, yet methodically as possible, ensuring that our clients received the best representation”

  The case involved over a million pages of evidence, thousands of hours of CCTV and media footage as well as complex medical, pathology and survivability issues.

• R v L– successfully defended in a large scale multi handed alleged gang murder. The case was one of the first of its kind as it involved hundreds of hours of CCTV footage which had been viewed by police officers who then supplied viewing logs giving their opinion as to what the footage showed. The Crown sought to establish that the police officers were “experts”. The footage was of poor quality and we disputed the interpretation of the police officers as to what the footage showed and instructed a former RAF officer and expert of 20 years in imagery who enhanced the footage and demonstrated to the jury that the object the police had interpreted to be a weapon was in fact an artefact [a trick of the light which was not actually there]. The defendant was acquitted of murder.

• R v H– large scale Trading Standard prosecution collapsed following the submissions made on behalf of a Blackpool businessman who was accused alongside his staff of conspiracy to defraud. Burton Copeland led the successful legal arguments in relation to the prosecution failing to examine telephone recordings which were seized by trading standards offices when his business was raided which the defence maintained would prove that the prosecution assertions that customers had been duped were clearly wrong. All defendants were acquitted. Press Coverage

• R v L– defended in what was then the largest importation of class ‘A’ drugs into the United Kingdom. The case involved complex issues of law relating to a participating police informant (often referred to as “supergrass”) , telephone and cell siting evidence and also evidence from other overseas prosecuting authorities in the Netherlands, France and Belgium.

• R v McGarry– Represented from police interview, magistrates court through to Crown Court trial and then to an appeal to the Court of Appeal, in what was one of the first prepared statement cases given during a police interview. Despite the trial judge indicating that it was for the jury decide on what inference to hold, the Court of Appeal disagreed indicating that the statement prepared by Jonathan fulfilled all the statutory requirements and that the judge was wrong in his direction to the jury. The case led to the “McGarry direction” still being used in criminal courts on a daily basis throughout the UK.