Top criminal and regulatory barrister David Richards appointed as a Circuit Judge

29th September 2023

We are delighted to announce that the King has appointed 3PB’s criminal and regulatory barrister David Richards (pictured here) to be a Circuit Judge with effect from Monday 9 October 2023. David has been deployed to the South Eastern Circuit and will be based at the Inner London Crown Court.

Called to the Bar in 1989, David Richards has been a Recorder for the last four years and was head of 3PB's successful Public and Regulatory team from 2016 until 2021.

With over 30 years’ experience at the Bar, David has led some of the most complex and important criminal cases across the Western Circuit, especially in the larger court centres of Winchester and Bristol. Since 2015, David has prosecuted gross negligence manslaughter and other homicide cases of the utmost complexity involving incidents at sea with multiple fatalities and on army firing ranges and has also defended high value importation and complex healthy and safety cases. David's advisory practice has encompassed several complicated maritime fatality inquiries and Inquests. He has also advised the MoD on charging decisions arising from the inquiries into alleged war crimes in Iraq, drawing together tens of thousands of pages of evidence, working with service police and some of the country’s leading Silks.

Read the formal confirmation of His Honour Judge David Richards' appointment from the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary.