Having worked for some years as a Senior Crown Prosecutor in central Manchester, Simon Nichol was called to the Bar in 1994. He had also previously been a partner running a busy criminal department in a medium-sized city centre practice.

He has wide experience of all facets of criminal and tribunal work and currently works predominantly as a criminal defence advocate. In recent times he has represented defendants in serious violence and sexual assault cases as well as gangland firearms cases. He also deals regularly with higher level dishonesty and drugs offences.

Recent appeal cases have included successful appearances in a number of unusual cases where the Court of Appeal has been persuaded to depart significantly from the sentencing guidelines (e.g. Adcock [2010] and Dixon [A-G’s ref. 29 of 2008]). He also represented one of the only defendants in recent years who successfully relied on the defence of marital coercion - a serious kidnapping trial in which, after legal argument, the 1925 legislation was “read down” to make it ECHR compliant.

Personal

Although originally from Sussex, Simon has lived in Manchester most of his adult life, after a spell living and teaching in West Africa, where he was personal English tutor to the president of Niger for two years. He is married with children.

Hobbies

Simon has a broad range of interests. He regularly attends concerts at the Bridgewater Hall. He is also an enthusiastic wine drinker and cook, as well as spending much energy recently in efforts to restore a derelict farmhouse. He travels widely, goes hill walking, and speaks French and Catalan.