Deanna Heer
1994
Appointed Junior Treasury Counsel by the Attorney General in 2015, Deanna is an experienced criminal barrister who is regularly instructed in the most serious cases. She frequently appears before the Court of Appeal and advises the Law Officers in respect of unduly lenient sentences.
For many years, Deanna has also specialised in health and safety law, for which she is an A List advocate. She also appears at inquests and before professional disciplinary tribunals.
Deanna is ranked in Chambers and Partners as a leading junior in crime and health and safety law:
"Continues to be sought after by public bodies and private sector clients alike for he expertise in investigations, prosecutions and inquests." C&P 2016.
“She’s very fair and prosecutes in a clear way. She sticks to her guns.” C&P 2015.
“Experienced in complex criminal cases, she can find a practical path through the most difficult matters” . C&P 2014.
“Her wider crime skills bring a lot to the table when dealing with health and safety cases. She understands juries and judges very well and in court she is in her element”. C&P 2013.
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Deanna is experienced in prosecuting and defending homicide and serious violence. Her recent caseload includes allegations of mercy killing, non-accidental head injury in infants (so-called 'shaken baby syndrome'), gangland shootings, joint enterprise stabbings, sadistic murder, domestic killings and cases of causing death by driving.
Notable cases:
R v Darbyshire: The mercy killing of a father by his daughter. The case required consideration of the legal issues relating to assisting suicide, manslaughter by suicide pact and murder.
R v Kocik: Successful prosecution for murder, following the discovery of the deceased's body found floating in a suitcase in the Grand Union Canal. The case involved complex pathological issues resulting from a significant delay between the killing and the finding of the deceased.
R v Speight and others: an allegation of joint enterprise murder, in which a homeless man was tortured over several hours and left for dead. The case involved a number of vulnerable witnesses and hearsay issues arsing from the death of a principal witness.
R v Reid and others: one of many allegations of joint enterprise stabbings Deanna has prosecuted. Led in the Crown Court, she responded alone to appeals lodged by several defendants (see [2014] EWCA Crim 977).
R v AY; R v Sode: Allegations of non-accidental head injury in infants (so called shaken baby syndrome) involving complex medical evidence and, in one case, complex legal issues arising from the abolition of the Year and a Day Rule.
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Deanna also has many years experience in prosecuting and defending serious organised crime including multi-handed trials as a leading junior, being led and alone. She has been involved in cases alleging the large-scale importation and supply of drugs by organised criminal groups, multi-million pound money laundering investigations and multi-handed robbery trials
Notable cases:
R v Doka and others: prosecuting alone a multi-handed conspiracy for the wholesale supply of cocaine in London and the North East by organised gangs in a case investigated by the NCA.
R v Green and others; R v Austin: a multi-handed conspiracy to import 200kgs cocaine by lobster fishermen. This investigation by SOCA resulted in linked prosecutions in the Crown Court and several appeals, involving suggestions of jury interference, mis-directions and applications to adduce fresh evidence all of which were dismissed (see [2012] ECWA Crim 656; [2012] EWCA Crim 2177).
R v Stanislaus and others: conspiracy to launder £30m by central London bureaux de change.
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Deanna is an experienced fraud lawyer. She has prosecuted multi-handed conspiracies to defraud, allegations of false accounting, and advised on cases including the prosecution of public companies.
Notable cases:
R v Owen and others: multi-handed conspiracy involving UK wide misrepresentation within the egg marketing industry – passing off battery farmed eggs as free range/organic on a huge scale.
R v Dandash and others; R v El Jamal and others: Multi-million banking frauds involving the creation of numerous accounts in false identities.
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Deanna specialises in health and safety law, regularly prosecuting and defending offences including manslaughter and statutory breaches by corporate defendants causing death and serious injury.
Notable cases:
R v Tangerine Confectionary Limited and Veolia (ES) UK Ltd [2011] EWCA Crim 2013: Leading case in which the Court of Appeal clarified the relevance of foreseeability in proving statutory breaches.
R v Falcon Crane Hire Ltd: Successful prosecution of breaches arising from the 'Battersea Crane Collapse' which resulted in the death of two people. Deanna also represented the HSE before the Coroner's Court.
R v London Waste Ltd [2014] EWCA Crim 1954. The successful prosecution of a statutory breach which was contested in the Crown Court. Deanna also represented the HSE before the Court of Appeal, where the conviction was upheld.
R v Costain Ltd: Statutory breaches resulting from a failure to segregate people and machines at works to widen the M25 and during the redevelopment of Newbury town centre.
R v Johnson: Gross negligence manslaughter involving carbon monoxide poisoning (see [2009] 2 Cr App R(S) 28).
R v Royal Brompton Hospital: Regulatory breaches surrounding the handling of so-called ‘superbugs’ within the hospital laboratory.
R v Brighton and Sussex University Hospital: Statutory breach resulting from a failure to manage legionella over many years, which resulted in a patient becoming infected.
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Deanna is experienced in representing interested parties at inquests, including those involving juries. She has represented medical professionals and pharmacists and represented the Health and Safety Executive in the inquest into the Battersea Crane Collapse, which killed two people.
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Deanna has regularly represented pharmacists before the General Pharmaceutical Council.
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Criminal Bar Association, South Eastern Circuit, Health and Safety Lawyers Association.
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Called 1994, Recorder of the Crown Court 2009; Junior Treasury Counsel 2015
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Overview
Homicide and serious violence
