Ryan successfully completed pupillage under the wing of Matthew Dunford and was offered tenancy in September 2016. He specialises predominantly in criminal and regulatory work, as well as conducting police, prison, and parole board work.
Since the beginning of his practice, Ryan has been regarded as a dynamic, intelligent, and charming advocate, providing persuasive advocacy in the courtroom and having an ability to build a genuine rapport with his clients. He is one of the most sought-after young defence barristers in North Wales.
Criminal work
Ryan’s early efforts to specialise in criminal law have seen him both defend and prosecute a vast range of criminal matters in the Crown Court and below. He is a level 3 Crown Court prosecutor, but he is also regularly sought to defend offences of a violent or sexual nature. He has conducted cases involving defendants and witnesses with mental health difficulties and is particularly adept at cases requiring the cross-examination of multiple eye witnesses.
Police and prison work
Ryan’s diligent and pragmatic approach to cases ensures he is regularly chosen to conduct police prosecutions on behalf of both North Wales Police, Cheshire Constabulary, and Cumbria Constabulary. His work encompasses prosecutions and appeals involving firearms, dangerous dog offences, forfeiture proceedings, and applications for Sexual Harm Prevention Orders, Criminal Behaviour Orders, and Domestic Violence Prevention Orders. He has provided relevant training to local police forces.
Ryan has also been instructed to conduct parole board hearings, most recently representing a prisoner serving a life sentence for multiple sexual offences against children.
Regulatory work
Ryan has been involved in various regulatory prosecutions – including those brought by Local Authorities, the RSPCA, Trading Standards, and environmental agencies – and is often relied upon to provide specialist advice to local authorities. His background of assisting defendants at the General Medical and Dental Councils also establishes him as a popular defence advocate for tribunal work.
Operation Brooklyn (2022) – led junior counsel in successful prosecution of Welshpool-based organised crime group conducting a multi-million pound drugs conspiracy (Caernarfon)
R v C (2021 & 2022) – successful acquittal of the same man in two separate trials: the first in which he was charged with a violent disorder which he could be seen instigating on CCTV, and the second in which he was charged with possessing a large amount cocaine with intent to supply, with evidence of £28,000 in his bank account (Caernarfon & Mold)
R v M (2021) – successful prosecution of a male for unlawful wounding. He had repeatedly struck his partner around the head with a hammer. It was noted that her injuries were so bad that she looked like a corpse (Chester)
R v J (2021) – prosecution of a man for causing grievous bodily harm in a baby-burning case (Chester)
R v S (2021) – defence of a Romanian male who had stabbed three people in a rampage in Bangor town centre (Caernarfon)
R v C, S, & R (2021) – successful prosecution of three-handed attempted armed robbery, where the female defendant brought her pyjama-clad six year old daughter with her; the defendants received a total of seventeen years’ imprisonment between them (Mold)
Inquest re: George Kay (2021) – instructed on behalf of Cheshire Constabulary re: the death of Kerry Katona’s former husband (Warrington) – https://metro.co.uk/2021/08/10/kerry-katonas-ex-george-kay-died-after-eating-ball-of-cocaine-15070541/
R v S (2020) – successful defence of a youth charged with wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm, relating to an incident where the victim suffered a snapped jaw and where the alleged offence was filmed on Snapchat (Caernarfon)
R v F (2020) – successful prosecution of a man involved in an armed domestic “Asian gold” robbery, where the occupant’s premature baby was thrown onto a bed and threatened with a screwdriver (Mold) – https://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/18815518.burglars-punched-vulnerable-wrexham-mum-threatened-kill-baby-court-told/
R v F (2020) – successful prosecution of a man who had committed numerous historic child sex offences against his step-daughter (Caernarfon) – https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/man-who-groped-schoolgirl-jailed-18432791
R v W (2020) – successful prosecution of a local businessman, who had embezzled around £575,000 from the company for which he was the financial chief (Caernarfon)
CW&CC v E (2019 to 2020) – successful prosecution of a dog-breeding business for regulatory offences, this being the same business which supplied illegally bred/imported Chihuahuas and Pomeranians to the rich and famous, including to certain contestants of ITV’s Love Island (Chester)
Operation Listen (2019) – instructed to defend one of four defendants involved in county lines and gangland drug trafficking (Mold)
R v M (2019) – successful defence of a school teacher accused of assaulting one of her students; the judge’s criticism of the prosecution receiving significant attention in the national media (Chester) – https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/jean-mccormick-judge-lambasts-trial-of-teacher-who-grabbed-unruly-pupil-p3768gqlw
R v W (2019) – successful prosecution of a man for dangerous driving, the offence involving a 21-mile police chase (Caernarfon) – https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-49690713
R v E (2019) – successful defence of a 16 year old youth charged with affray and threatening a family with a kitchen knife (Llandudno)
R v F (2019) – instructed to defend a man alleged to have released Harris’s hawks into the wild illegally; the case was dropped by the prosecution after service of the defence skeleton argument (Caernarfon) – https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/08/20/rural-crime-team-failed-produce-evidence-case-accusing-falconer/
CW&CC v L (2019) – successful prosecution of a case involving the death of a 4 year old dog that had been left in the care of an unlicensed dog boarder (Chester)
Operation Waddle (2019) – instructed by Trading Standards to prosecute a married couple accused of manufacturing around £40,000 worth of counterfeit Premier League merchandise; a successful forfeiture application post-conviction resulted in the couple having to pay the money back (Mold)
Operation Rossi (2018) – led junior counsel in successful prosecution of the largest family-run bus company in north Wales, where four members of the family were convicted of offences of fraud and money laundering amounting to around half a million pounds; the defendants received a total of thirty years’ imprisonment between them (Caernarfon) – https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-45724231
R v T (2018) – successful prosecution of a case of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, where the defendant had fallen asleep behind the wheel and caused life-changing injuries to a cyclist (Caernarfon) – https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5817117/shocking-moment-cyclist-is-sent-flying-through-the-air-after-sleeping-driver-slammed-into-him-head-first/
R v T (2018) – successful prosecution of a man who had defrauded several thousands of pounds from an elderly care home resident suffering with both vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (Chester)
Operation Manhattan (2018) – instructed in “landmark” RSPCA special operation to defend one of six males charged with numerous offences of animal cruelty and badger baiting (Llandudno) – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-west-wales-42946647
R v M & T (2018) – prosecution of a case involving two males, the complainant of which was a wheelchair-bound homosexual man who had been robbed by the male sex worker he regularly used for sexual services (Caernarfon)
BA (Hons), Upper Second Class, English Literature, University of York
Level 3 CPS Panel Advocate
Member of the Wales & Chester Circuit
Member of the Northern Circuit
Ryan is ranked in the 2024 and 2025 Legal 500 directories as Tier 3 for Criminal practice
‘Ryan is always well-prepared to deal with the cases that he has for that day and trials that are listed within a short time. He has a good rapport with victims and witnesses when they attend court.’
