Gelaga King
- Association of Regulatory & Disciplinary Lawyers
- Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
- Criminal Bar Association
- International Bar Association
- LLB Hons, University of Hull
- Direct Access Qualified
Instructing Gelaga King
To instruct Gelaga or for any further information please contact our clerks.
Clerk: John Grimmer
Telephone: +44 (0)7776 154 664
Email: Click here
Gelaga King is a senior barrister specialising in cases requiring expert advocacy skills.
Gelaga has a varied practice and represents a diverse range of individual and corporate clients. He is often called upon to advise at an early stage of proceedings in respect of strategy and achieving best outcomes.
Gelaga has a reputation as a highly skilled, measured, forceful and persuasive advocate. As such he is regularly instructed to appear as a leading advocate both domestically and internationally.
Gelaga has successfully represented clients appearing before major tribunals including the Court of Appeal Criminal and Civil Divisions and The London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA). He is an accredited civil and commercial mediator and a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
Gelaga was called to the Sierra Leonean Bar in 1988 and holds a practising certificate for that jurisdiction. He has extensive inks with Sierra Leone where he is consultant with BMT Law. He is a consultant to the Ghanaian law firm Lincoln Rose and has been made a lifetime honorary member of the Ghana Bar Association.
Gelaga is qualified to accept direct access instructions from professionals and others facing regulatory proceedings.
Gelaga is a contributor to Cpdcast and his latest podcast on Abuse of Process can be downloaded here.
Gelaga teaches advocacy both nationally and internationally.
Practice Areas
Notable crime cases
R v W & Ors
Appeared for the prosecution. Two defendants linked to organised crime charged with kidnap, blackmail, false imprisonment and possession of firearms. Defendants convicted.
R v Ay
Appeared as leading junior counsel for defendant on firearms charges. Ay caught on CCTV with gun in his hand during a gang related incident in which a teenager was fatally stabbed. Defendant found not guilty.
R v M
Appeared as leading junior counsel for defendant charged with multi-million pound conspiracy to import Class A drugs concealed in fruit from Jamaica. Co-Defendant launched ambush cut throat defence from witness box. Cross-examination in response and subsequent speech resulted in M being found not guilty. Co-defendant was convicted.
R v S
Appeared as leading junior counsel for defendant charged with kidnap, false imprisonment, blackmail and possession of a firearm. Submission of no case to answer upheld at end of six weeks in which not a single-witness was asked a question.
Notable fraud cases
R v K & Others
Appeared for High profile local politician charged with theft and false accounting. Defendant found not guilty.
R v D
Appeared as junior counsel for company Director charged with conspiracy to defraud. Case stayed following Abuse of Process submissions.
R v S & Others
Appeared as leading junior for company Director (S) alleged to be the organiser of a £13million Diversion and Duty fraud. S was only one of the five alleged organisers to be found not guilty.
Notable murder & manslaughter cases
R v J Morally
Appeared as junior counsel for defendant charged with murder, attempted murder, kidnap and rape.
R v A
Appeared as junior counsel for defendant charged with murder and attempted murder.
R v J
Appeared as leading junior counsel for first defendant charged with a gang related murder in Croydon. The trial received evidence from an anonymous informant who was forced to become a witness, arrested and brought to court to give evidence. He refused to leave the court cell and the Prosecution revealed his identity and were given leave to read his statement. The defendant was unanimously acquitted.
