Natalie Bird

Prosecution

Natalie is a CPS Level 1 Prosecutor, prosecuting in the Crown Court, Youth Court, and Magistrates’ Court.

Defence

Natalie has developed a strong defence practice in the Crown Court, Youth Court, and Magistrates’ Court, including trial advocacy and POCA proceedings. She is regularly instructed to make exceptional hardship and special reasons arguments in road traffic cases, saving clients from being disqualified from driving.

CASES:

• R v M (2017): Acquittal of a vulnerable client who faced an allegation of failing to provide driver information, avoiding the activation of a suspended custodial sentence.
• N v H (2017): Claimant was persuaded to drop their County Court application to commit H to prison for breaching an Anti-Social Behaviour Injunction, on the basis of a written skeleton argument applying to strike out their case.
• R v B (2017): Acquittal of an ex-police officer accused of a public order offence involving threats of violence against a ticket operator at a train station, despite CCTV footage and the independent eye-witness account of a university professor.
• R v H (2017): Following legal argument about disclosure failings, the Prosecution were compelled to drop an allegation of assault against a 50-year-old man with no previous convictions.
• R v J (2017): Persuaded the Magistrates to find exceptional hardship, saving J from a 6-month totting ban which would have terminated his employment as a Class 1 HGV driver and forced him to sell his family’s home.
• R v H (2018): Acquittal of a man accused of domestic violence, despite three prosecution eye-witnesses all giving corroborative evidence.

Regulatory

Natalie co-authored an article with Sam Thomas in the Association of Regulatory & Disciplinary Lawyers (ARDL)’s Winter Bulletin 2018, titled “Supreme Court confirms Employment Tribunal’s jurisdiction for regulatory appeals”. From May 2018, Natalie will be on partial secondment to the Association of Optometrists, defending in professional disciplinary proceedings. She will continue to be available for Court appearances throughout this period.