Alex Granville

Alex Granville is a Barrister in our Crown Court department, based in our Reading office. Alex works regularly attending hearings in the Crown Court, Magistrates’ Court and Youth Court in Reading and Oxford, but also much further afield. Alex deals with a large variety of Criminal matters as well as some Regulatory work. Other work covered also involves final hearings and appeals regarding civil orders made by the Police including ‘Stalking Protection Orders’ (SPO’s), ‘Sexual Risk Orders’ (SRO’s), and ‘Domestic Violence Protection Orders’ (DVPO’s).

Alex achieved his LLB Honours in Law and then was awarded a full Scholarship and Exhibition from the Honourable Society of Inner Temple where he went on to complete the Barrister Training Course (BTC) and his Master of Laws (LLM).

Prior to Reeds, Alex has worked as a Court Clerk at Cardiff Crown Court, a role that allowed Alex to gain a vast insight into the inner workings of the Criminal Justice System and the Crown Court process. Alex has also worked as a Paralegal at a small high street law firm dealing mainly with Criminal Law. Alex has also spent time working in education with those who have Special Educational Needs.

Alex is a highly organised, determined, and focused individual with the ability to easily empathise and collaborate with those that he works with. This means Alex can get to the key issues in the case quickly, while being able to communicate these in an appropriate way to the parties involved.

Professional Memberships

• Member of the Honourable Society of Inner Temple
• Called to the Bar: 2022
• Master of Laws, LLM, Cardiff University
• Barrister Training Course, BTC, Cardiff University
• Bachelor of Laws, LLB (Hons)
• Young Legal Aid Lawyers (YLAL)

Awards

• Inner Temple scholarship – 2020
• Inner Temple Michael Hodge Award – 2020

Notable Cases

CRIMINAL LAW

R v DM [2023] Attempted Sexual Communication with a Child x2 – High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court

Secured a Community Order and Mental Health Treatment Work for an individual in their 30’s who had been diagnosed with special educational needs including Autism. The individual had previously pleaded guilty after being caught by a ‘Pedophile Hunters’ operation. Detailed use of extensive psychiatric reports, medical records, mental health documents. (Litigated by Jennifer Kabała)

R v JH [2023] Theft x2 – Reading Magistrates’ Court

Defendant found not guilty after trial where he had been accused of keeping property that was incorrectly handed to him during release from police custody. The items included jewellery totalling £7,500. Use of unused material, police custody records, and challenging inconsistent police statements.

R v RH [2024] Assault x2, Threatening with a Blade in a Private Place – Reading Magistrates Court

After several case management hearings, and successful legal arguments opposing the Crown’s Res Gestae application, the Prosecution were left with no option but to offer no evidence against the Defendant on the day of trial in respect of all three charges, and hence the Defendant was acquitted. A case with a number of witnesses and a large domestic violence element. (Litigated by Max Riley-Gould)

R v XX [2024] Making indecent photographs / pseudo-photographs of children – Cambridge Crown Court

The defendant pleaded guilty to being in possession of nearly 500 indecent images / pseudo-images of children of varying ages from months old to teenagers, with over 100 images classed as category A. After a lengthy sentencing hearing where the Judge raised issues and challenged the workability of the Pre-Sentence Report, the court was convinced to pass a suspended sentence with unpaid work and rehabilitation sessions. (Litigated by Zoe Heron)

R v SR [2024] Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm x2 – Reading Crown Court

A 4-day trial where the Defendant was alleged to have attacked two shop workers after stealing from their shop, the complainants had serious bite marks on their bodies, and wounds to the head. The Defendant ran self-defence in that the complainants had been chocking the defendant and their actions went beyond reasonable. The jury unanimously acquitted after only two and a half hours. Successful legal arguments, significant use of unused material, and effective cross examination of three Prosecution witnesses concluded in a successful result. (Litigated by Georgina Kuponiyi)

REGULATORY LAW

Bracknell Forest Council v A Company Ltd & SH (as Director) [2023] – Fly tipping, breach of waste carrier licenses, and lack of due care by a director – Reading Magistrates’ Court

The company and director were both found not guilty after trial having been charged by the local authority. Steps were taken in written and oral submissions to show that the individual had discharged their duty as director, and separately that the company had not dumped any waste. Due to the alleged asbestos that had been dumped – fines, costs, prosecution legal fees would have reached tens of thousands of pounds if convicted.