
Sebastian Cox
Sebastian Cox specialises in criminal law.
Sebastian has represented clients in cases involving serious violence, fraud, organised crime, gangs, firearms, drugs, human trafficking and modern slavery. He is also instructed in cases involving indecent images and sex offences, with expertise in dealing with Sexual Risk Orders (SROs).
He has a particular interest in working with youth and vulnerable clients involved in county lines gangs and has also acted for youth defendants charged with serious child sex offences.
Sebastian has also been instructed in protest cases, including those involving high-profile climate protest groups, and is familiar with the complexities surrounding the defences often raised in those cases
In addition to defending and prosecuting in general and serious crime, Sebastian is experienced in representing clients in prosecutions relating to the licensing of HMOs and other Housing Act prosecutions concerning the private rental sector. Sebastian has represented professional clients and corporate clients in criminal proceedings in both England and Wales, including agents with a sizeable profile.
Sebastian acts on both a private and publicly funded basis.
Cases
Criminal Defence
R v E – Led junior for defence in case concerning Operation Galway, an investigation into an Albanian gang operating multiple large cannabis factories and laundering the proceeds. When a rival gang attempted to break into one of the ‘factories’, an extremely violent altercation occurred in a residential area involving several individuals hospitalised with knife and gunshot injuries. Client was unanimously acquitted of cannabis cultivation conspiracy after trial.
R v H – Serious case involving several young men who travelled from Greater Manchester to Loughton armed with knives and pepper spray. The males attempted to force entry into a property and during a confrontation with the householders, pepper spray was discharged. The Solicitor General referred the case to the Court of Appeal citing a sentence of 9 years’ imprisonment as unduly lenient. Sebastian successfully opposed any increase to the sentence on appeal.
R v M – Man seen by bystanders in changing room at public swimming pool to be masturbating in front of children in the showers. Unanimously acquitted of outraging public decency by jury after trial, after deployment of a loofah and trunks to confirm the innocent nature of his acts.
R v G – Led junior in a complex case of perverting the course of justice by way of forged/fraudulent court orders in the civil courts.
R v P – NHS health care assistant accused by nursing staff of assaulting a vulnerable dementia patient whilst working on the ward. Acquitted at half-time.
R v E – Conspiracy to burgle/handling stolen goods – Young defendant accused of being involved in a spate of over 30 burglaries in which over £20,000 worth of items stolen. Acquitted after trial.
R v PA – Housing disrepair/Health & Safety prosecution involving a company accused of serious mold and disrepair issues across a portfolio of residential properties in Wales; Case involved complex legal issues concerning HMO property standards and issues of ‘reasonable excuse’ during the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic.
Criminal Prosecution
R v D – PWITS Class A drugs case in which defendant was convicted as a third-striker.
R v G – GBH/Wounding with intent case involving a male struck to the head from behind with a baseball bat.
R v K – Possession of a firearm & ammunition with intent to endanger life – handgun and live firing ammunition obtained by defendant, seized by police whilst D on the way to take it a confrontation.
Professional Memberships
- Criminal Bar Association
- Young Fraud Lawyers’ Association
- Inner Temple
- Grade 2 CPS Counsel
- NMC External Counsel
Awards, Qualifications & Other
- Advocacy and the Vulnerable Training, Inner Temple (October 2019)
- Youth Justice Legal Centre – Youth Justice Advocacy Training (March 2019)
- Bar Professional Training Course, BPP University – Very Competent
- Law with Politics (LLB Hons), University of Sussex – Upper Second-Class Honours