Dexter Dias QC and Alex Rose of Garden Court represented Yigiter Gok, instructed by Ali Has of Morgan Has Solicitors.
In the summer of this year Yigiter Gok stood trial along with four co-defendants for the murder of Daniel Frederick in Stoke Newington.
The Prosecution Case was that Mr Gok was part of a group of five that travelled from one Stoke Newington estate to another in order to attack someone. Mr Gok’s case was that whilst he had been with the group, he took no part in the attack that followed.
The case involved complex issues of evidence, including bad character evidence concerning gang membership/affiliation. The jury, recognising the differing intents between those in the group, acquitted Mr Gok of murder and returned the lesser offence of manslaughter. Two other defendants were convicted of murder; one had pleaded guilty to murder before the trial started.
In a time of funding cuts in the criminal justice system, the case once more revealed how central the jury is to British justice and how essential it is for an accused person in such complex cases to be properly represented by Queen’s and junior counsel and solicitor.
The case has been reported in the press, including BBC and the Guardian.
Dexter Dias QC and Alex Rose are members of the Garden Court Chambers Crime Team.
