David Emanuel was instructed in the case by Matt Foot at Birnberg Peirce.
David represented ex-professional boxing champion, Anthony Small, at his trial for the encouragement of terrorism contrary to section 1 Terrorism Act 2006 at the Old Bailey. The prosecution's case was that a YouTube video that the Defendant had posted online in September 2016 had contained words which were likely to encourage an act of terrorism. It was argued in defence that the words were a poem designed to be pure rhetoric and which could never be understood to be taken literally by anyone. After nine and a half hours in deliberation the jury acquitted on 5 June.
The case attracted national media coverage including in Asian Image and the Metro.
David Emanuel is a member of the Garden Court Chambers Crime and Criminal Appeals Team.