Nigel Power KC

" He's an excellent barrister; he's massively experienced and also thoroughly likeable, which is important to making client relationships work" 

Call today on 0845 450 0707 or email Nigel Power KC directly

Nigel Power KC is a specialist criminal and family barrister  He is a lawyer who has gained extensive experience since 1992. He became a QC (Queen’s Counsel) in 2010, changing to KC in 2022. In the 2016 Chambers and Partners Guide to the Bar, he was described in the following way: "He's an excellent barrister; he's massively experienced and also thoroughly likeable, which is important to making client relationships work." Nigel is a member of the Bar of England and Wales but has been licensed to conduct a number of cases in the Isle of Man and has been called to the bar of Northern Ireland for bars for specific cases.

Nigel has recently represented the first of 11 defendants in the longest completed jury trial in history in Manchester, and also represented the first defendant in a 7-month VAT fraud trial at Southwark. This summer he successfully defended a man charged with murder (reporting restrictions remain in place) and also represented Shay Walker who was acquitted of murder and manslaughter, having admitted shooting a drug dealer at point-blank range (report here.) Most recently he secured a “time served” sentence for Shaun Kent at the Old Bailey; Mr Kent admitted to conspiring to possess guns and ammunition which were offered up to the NCA in the hope of securing a reduced sentence in a drugs case involving Thomas Kavanagh: report here.

In June 2023 Nigel prosecuted Connor Chapman for the murder of Elle Edwards on Christmas Eve 2022 (report here). His other current workload involves advising a number of clients, pre and post-charge in cases involving Encrochat evidence, and he has successfully resisted a number of applications for production orders made by the police investigating alleged fraud at Liverpool City Council. For the remainder of 2024, Nigel is instructed in a 2 month murder trial and in January 2025 he is representing the first defendant in a pensions liberation fraud in Leeds.

In 2022 he represented two young defendants separately in murder trials and in 2021 he appeared for the first defendant, Kyle Sanders, in an eight-handed murder trial where the deceased was shot dead. Despite Mr Sanders being first named on the indictment and alleged to be the organiser of a robbery which led to the fatal shooting, Mr Sanders was acquitted of murder and convicted of manslaughter (report here). He prosecuted Christopher Guest More for the drug-related torture and murder of Brian Waters in 2003 (convicted after a retrial, report here) and represented a 17 year-old-defendant tried for s18 assault, murder and robbery in a cut-throat defence; he was acquitted of murder but convicted of s20 assault and manslaughter. Report here.

in 2020 he appeared in a number of murder trials and successfully resisted a prosecution appeal against a successful submission of no case in a murder trial in Preston (report here). In 2019 he secured the acquittal of Lee Blowes, who was alleged to have conspired to kill Blake Brown in a gangland execution (report here) and represented Lorraine Khan, who was acquitted of gross negligence manslaughter. A criminal and family specialist, in 2018 he appeared in two high-profile murder trials in Liverpool and successfully prosecuted Darren McKie, an inspector in the Greater Manchester Police, for the murder of his wife, also a police officer (see here).

In family work, he appeared for the Maternal Grandmother who was exonerated entirely in the two-week "finding of fact" hearing in Medway CC v K and more recently he appeared for an Albanian mother in a finding of fact hearing involving allegations of modern slavery and forced prostitution.

In July 2018 he represented businessman James Wilmott in the Crown Court at Cardiff; he was alleged to have threatened a taxi driver with a shotgun but was acquitted in 45 minutes by the jury (report here). He has appeared in many cases involving mental health issues and diminished responsibility. In 2020, with previous experience of doing the same, he represented two non-English speaking Polish defendants charged in separate murder trials.

in 2017 he represented Mark Ennis, charged with three others of murdering a rival drug dealer in Rhyl. Despite admitting to being a career drug dealer and getting out of a car with the co-accused, two of whom had knives and stabbed the three rivals in a van, the defendant was acquitted of two section 18 assaults upon 2 of the men and was acquitted of murder but convicted of manslaughter in relation to the front passenger who was stabbed 22 times. He has also represented a 16-year-old defendant charged with the murder of his Mother's neighbour. He fractured the deceased's skull with a wooden pole and stabbed him twice to the heart, but was acquitted of murder and manslaughter on the basis of self-defence. He successfully prosecuted Phillip Daniels for the murder by a single stab wound of a love rival, and obtained a sentence of just 6 years' detention for the manslaughter and assault of an alleged drug rival; that 15-year-old defendant had been charged with murder. 

In 2016 Nigel successfully represented Stephen Clarke in a very substantial three-week confiscation case (report here) and prosecuted Kandyce Downer in the high-profile murder of 18-month-old Keegan Downer, to whom she was special guardian (report here). In June he obtained an acquittal in a pipe-bomb conspiracy for Jason Buckley at the Birmingham Crown Court (report here) and in August an acquittal for Stuart Shears, charged with kidnapping, false imprisonment, blackmail, assault and perverting the course of justice (report here). Nigel represented John Hore in the Court of Appeal in one of a series of "Post-Jogee" test cases, leading the submissions about exceptional leave to appeal out of time where murder convictions were based on the old law of joint enterprise (judgment here).  

In 2015 he was successful in the murder trials of CS (see report here) and Wayne Erskine (see report here).

He has a proven track record in the most serious of criminal cases and is available to help now. He is regularly recommended in the leading legal directories for his work in court (recent recommendations are at the bottom of the page). He has been involved in many high-profile criminal cases, including having the case against his client dismissed in the “Millennium Dome Fraud” and representing the only defendant to be acquitted of conspiracy to defraud and fraudulent trading in the “Lord of Fraud” Boiler Room Fraud. He appeared in the trials of the racist killing of Anthony Walker in Huyton, the "Gangland" shooting of Michael Wright at the East Lancashire Road Retail Park and the murder of mother-of-three Lucy Hargreaves.

Nigel has appeared in terrorism cases and successfully appeared in the Court Martial for an Irish Guardsman charged with the manslaughter of an Iraqi Looter in Basra.

Nigel is well regarded for his work in confiscation cases where his IT skills can help to analyse and present the most complex financial evidence to his client’s advantage. He represented John Conroy in the confiscation proceedings of Operation Inertia, a large scale MTIC fraud involving contra-trading. The prosecution claimed that the benefit was £90m and that there were substantial hidden assets, but the eventual order was for benefit and assets of just £200,000. See the article about that case here. In late 2017 he successfully applied to vary a restraint order which allowed a business with a £50m per annum turnover to trade. 

Nigel also has a niche practice in civil fraud and cybercrime. He has specialist knowledge of digital currencies and has lectured on the subject.

Until recently you needed to instruct a solicitor to access Nigel’s services, but now you can come to him directly, cutting out unnecessary duplication and costs where appropriate. However if your case requires a solicitor’s input, Nigel can put you in touch with a network of excellent and highly regarded lawyers to help.

Nigel accepts work on both a private and legally aided basis.

Nigel practises from 7 Harrington Street in Liverpool and 9 Bedford Row in London and regularly appears in courts all over the country. He is prepared to travel to wherever you are to give you the help you need. He appears in quasi-criminal cases too, such as Civil “POCA” cases and disciplinary tribunals. 

To instruct Nigel email directly or call 0845 450 0707.

Recommendations from Leading Legal Directories:

NIGEL IS METICULOUSLY PREPARED AND TACTICALLY ASTUTE. HE ALWAYS BRINGS HIS A-GAME TO THE COURT AND CONFERENCE ROOM, HE IS ACROSS ALL THE DETAIL IN LENGTHY AND VOLUMINOUS TRIALS, AND HE IS RIGHTLY INSTRUCTED ON THE MAJOR TRIALS IN THE COUNTRY. (LEGAL 500 2024)

Knowledgeable across the full spectrum of serious crime, Nigel Power KC exhibits notable strength in homicide cases, as well as large-scale fraud and criminal confiscations. He regularly appears at trial and in appellate proceedings.(LEGAL 500 2024)

Strengths: HE IS A POWERHOUSE, RELENETLESS IN PURSUING HIS STRATEGY AND HE LEAVES NO STONE UNTURNED IN HIS PREPARATION OF CASES. (CHAMBERS 2024)

“Nigel is a superb advocate, thoroughly prepared, knowledgeable and eloquent” (legal 500 2023)

“NIGEL IS A BRILLIANT BARRISTER”. (CHAMBERS 2023)

“A superb advocate with a real attention to detail.” (LEGAL 500 2021)

Knowledgeable across the full spectrum of serious crime, HE exhibits notable strength in homicide cases, as well as large-scale fraud and criminal confiscations. He regularly appears at trial and in appellate proceedings.
Strengths: "Well prepared and tenacious …robust, thorough and conscientious." (CHAMBERS 2020)

“A SUPERB ADVOCATE WITH A REAL ATTENTION TO DETAIL” (LEGAL 500 2020)

"Knowledgeable across the full spectrum of serious crime, Nigel Power QC exhibits notable strength in homicide cases, as well as large-scale fraud and criminal confiscations. He also acts in serious sexual offence cases. Strengths: "An excellent and genuinely fearless advocate. He has a strong belief in his own judgment, allied with a remarkable capacity for hard work." "He is extremely pugnacious in his approach to defending prosecutions of all types, and is just as skillful in general crime as he is in complex fraud investigations. His client service and document preparation are at the highest level." (CHAMBERS 2019)

"A VERY HARDWORKING SILK.” (LEGAL 500 2018)

‘NIgel is an excellent trial qc and, due to his speedy analysis of the EVIDENCE, he runs the trial and effectively and controls the IMPACT of the prosecution evidence well. he is EXTREMELY CONSCIENTIOUS, prompt with his advice and a tireless force when it comes to preparation." (chambers 2018)

"A CONFIDENT AND UNFLAPPABLE ADVOCATE." (LEGAL 500 2017)

"Knowledgeable across the full spectrum of criminal law, Nigel Power QC exhibits notable strength in homicide cases, as well as large-scale fraud and criminal confiscations." (CHAMBERS 2017)

"IMPRESSIVE TECHNICAL ABILITY" (LEGAL 500 2016)

"He's an excellent barrister; he's massively experienced and also thoroughly likeable, which is important to making client relationships work." (Chambers 2016)

“Always brings a new dimension to any conversation about strategy in a complex case." (Legal 500 2015)

“Has an extensive practice covering all areas of serious crime. He is highly regarded for his expertise on complex and high-profile cases such as gangland murders.” (Chambers 2014)

"Experienced in cases involving complex DNA evidence." (Legal 500 2014)

"Admired for his busy practice that covers all areas of serious crime. He is described as hard-working. His distinguished track record includes acting in gangland shootings, serious fraud and drug trafficking offences." (Chambers 2013)

"Nigel Power QC excels in cases involving complex technical, medical or scientific evidence.” (Legal 500 2013)