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Barrister

Nick Wrack

Year of Call: 1997

Nick Wrack is a Barrister at Kenworthy’s Chambers who practices in

Nick Wrack has moved back to Manchester from London where he practised as a defence-only Barrister for over 25 years. He has vast experience across the spectrum of serious criminal trial work and has earned a reputation as a formidable advocate, known for his hard work, meticulous preparation and tactical acumen.

Criminal Law

Nick Wrack has recently moved back to Manchester from London where he established a reputation as a fearless and determined senior junior defence-only Barrister with vast experience over the full range of serious and complex criminal cases including serious violence, high-value fraud, firearms, and drugs conspiracies involving importing or supplying. He is regularly instructed as leading junior counsel.

If you have a Crime case you need advice or advocacy for, call our Criminal Clerks Paul Mander and Greg Highton on 0161 832 4036, e-mail [email protected], [email protected], or fill out our contact form.

+ Notable Cases
  • R v Y at Birmingham Crown Court (2024) – Nick Wrack’s client was alleged to be money laundering cash as a part of a multi-million-pound cigarette smuggling operation. Result: not guilty.
  • R v C at Woolwich Crown Court (2024) - Nick Wrack’s client was accused of possessing a firearm, which was found in a bedroom at his flat, and of large-scale Class A drugs conspiracy because of cocaine that was found in the same bedroom. Result: not guilty.
  • R v S at the Central Criminal Court (2023) – Criminal Barrister Nick Wrack was leading counsel for a defendant accused of perverting the course of justice for her husband who was convicted of a double murder.
  • R v T Hussain at Sheffield Crown Court (2023) – Operation Ringtail. Nick was leading counsel for a defendant in this multi-handed Class A drugs supply conspiracy. The case involved the importation and distribution of £1.59 billion worth of cocaine (15,900kg) over six months.
  • R v H at Wood Green Crown Court (2023) – Criminal Defence specialist Nick Wrack represented a client alleged to be an organiser of a large-scale cocaine supply, using an Encrochat phone. Result: hung jury.
  • R v Polat at Southwark Crown Court (2023) - Nick was Leading Counsel for a defendant in a £1.3 million bank fraud case, which involved arranging over 42 alleged fraudulent bank loans for clients of the defendant’s finance company.
  • R v E at Snaresbrook Crown Court (2022) – Nick represented a client accused of marital rapes. There was a hung jury, and the prosecution offered no evidence prior to retrial.
  • R v C at Leicester Crown Court (2022) – Nick was Leading Counsel for a client alleged to be part of a multi-handed conspiracy to sell parts from stolen cars worth over £4.5 million. Result: not guilty.
  • R v SA at Southwark Crown Court (2021) - £3 million diamond fraud conspiracy case where Nick was led by Adrian Eissa KC. The trial was halted for prosecution disclosure failings six weeks in. Result: not guilty. The case was reported on by the BBC.
  • R v Murat at Woolwich Crown Court (2021) - A seven-week long trial in which Nick represented the main defendant who was accused of being head of conspiracies to import and transfer firearms. Result: acquitted of importation.
  • R v F at Snaresbrook Crown Court (2020) – Rape trial in which Nick represented a client accused of raping their ex-wife. Result: the jury was hung, and the prosecution offered no evidence prior to re-trial.
  • R v JM at Wood Green Crown Court (2020) – Defendant acquitted of causing death by dangerous driving.
  • R v Jones at Nottingham Crown Court (2020) - Client accused of possession and transferring of firearms, supplying drugs and money laundering in a wide-ranging, multi-handed trial.
  • R v KB at Central Criminal Court (2019) – Criminal Barrister Nick Wrack represented a client accused of joint enterprise attempted murder. The co-defendant who fired a shot through the neck of another was convicted. Nick’s client was found not guilty.
  • R v AK at Kingston-Upon-Thames Crown Court (2019) – Fraud case involving false applications for visas. Nick Wrack was the Leading Counsel for the first defendant, said to be central to this wide-ranging fraud case involving multiple defendants. Thanks to Nick’s submissions the jury was discharged after ten weeks, and the case went to a second trial. At the second trial, which lasted for five weeks, Nick’s client was found not guilty.
  • R v MM Hussain at Snaresbrook Crown Court (2019) - Nick acted as Leading Counsel for a client accused of conspiracy to cause GBH in an inter-gang feud. Result: hung jury.
  • R v Aga at Hove Crown Court (2018) - Nick Wrack was Leading Counsel for a client alleged to have acted in a ‘leading role’ in a drugs conspiracy valued between £6–9 million, and money laundering. Seven days into the trial, the prosecution accepted a plea on the basis of Nick’s client acting in a ‘significant role’. From a starting point of 24 years, Nick’s client was sentenced to 13 years (10 + 3 for money laundering), better than compared with those who had pleaded at the plea and trial preparation hearing, who received 16 years each.
  • R v MB at Southwark Crown Court (2018) – Criminal Barrister Nick Wrack was Leading Counsel for a client alleged to be a central organiser of an international fraud covering Asia, North America and Europe, worth £3.1 million. His client was acquitted after a ten-week trial.
  • R v M at Isleworth Crown Court (2018) - Client was charged with section 18 wounding. Listed twice for trial. Nick argued successfully for disclosure which forced the Crown to offer no evidence. Result: not guilty.
  • R v CH at Southwark Crown Court (2018) - 61-year-old client charged with male rape in 1980 when he was a Soldier. Listed twice for trial. Nick argued successfully for disclosure which forced the Crown to offer no evidence. Result: not guilty.
  • R v Yousaf at Birmingham Crown Court (2018) - Attempted murder. Three-handed stabbing in broad daylight. Covered in the Birmingham Mail.
  • R v MJ at Nottingham Crown Court (2018) – Nick Wrack secured an acquittal for his client accused of kidnapping and possession of a firearm.
  • R v KB at Maidstone Crown Court (2017-2018) – Criminal Barrister Nick Wrack represented one of 18 accused of an armed robbery involving a mass attack on a travellers’ site in Kent. After two long trials (13 and seven weeks respectively) in which the juries were unable to reach verdicts, the Crown offered no evidence. Nick’s client was one of only three out of 18 defendants to be found not guilty. The case was reported in The Mirror.
  • R v JB at Leeds Crown Court (2017-2018) – Nick’s client was alleged to be the head of multiple drug conspiracies. The defendant alleged police ‘fit up’, including the fabrication of evidence. The client was acquitted of all charges after three trials.
  • R v AK at Central Criminal Court (2017) – Nick Wrack represented a defendant accused of possessing an article likely to be useful to a person committing a terrorist offence, namely an article on how to make bombs. Result: not guilty.
  • R v LG at Central Criminal Court (2017) - Breaches of Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures (TPIM) Notice (formerly Terrorist Control Order).
  • R v Ellison & others at Southwark Crown Court (2017) - Defendant accused with others of false imprisonment and sexual torture. The defendant, victim and one other witness all had intermediaries.
  • R v I at Sheffield Crown Court (2016) – The defendant was one of ten accused of violent disorder when they protested against the far-right in Rotherham. They argued that they acted in self-defence and were all found not guilty by the jury. This trial was covered by the BBC.
  • R v HO at Blackfriars Crown Court (2016) – Nick’s defendant client and two others were charged with attempted murder and section 18 intention to wound or cause GBH. Nick’s client accepted he was present at the attack. Result: found not guilty of both charges.
  • R v CE at Inner London Crown Court (2016) - Defendant charged with the unusual offence of engaging in sexual activity (sexual intercourse with a woman) in the presence of a child, for the purpose of sexual gratification. The defendant was found not guilty after trial.
  • R v RJ at Reading Crown Court (2016) - Defendant accused of multiple rapes of two girlfriends. Nick successfully argued for disclosure of telephone material which resulted in the Crown offering no evidence and his client being found not guilty of all charges.
  • R v Shaibu at Central Criminal Court (2015) - Attempted murder.
  • R v Morley at Bristol Crown Court (2015) – Nick Wrack represented a defendant charged with large-scale fraud involving second-hand, top-of-the-range car dealership, with multiple victims.
  • R v Baybasin at Court of Appeal (2014) - Appeal case involving jury irregularities and local practice directions (see trial listed below).
  • R v P at Manchester Crown Court (2013) - Nick Wrack was Leading Counsel for a defendant alleged to be the mastermind behind £2.5 million credit card fraud in which sophisticated software was used to bypass banking security. The case was described as ‘unprecedented’ by the prosecution.
  • R v Harrison at Manchester Crown Court (2013) – The defendant pleaded guilty to involvement in a conspiracy to supply Class A drugs. Nick won a trial of issue (Newton Hearing) limiting his client’s involvement to a lesser role, meaning a significantly reduced sentence was imposed.
  • R v Burke at Central Criminal Court (2013) – Trial involving a defendant accused of impersonating a murdered woman in order to defraud her.
  • R v Townsend at Central Criminal Court (2013) - Defendant charged with violent disorder arising out of a gang fight at Westfield shopping centre in East London, during which one person was murdered. The crown offered no evidence against the defendant before the close of the prosecution case following Nick’s cross-examination of prosecution witnesses.
  • R v Imran Mahmood at Central Criminal Court (2013) - Preparing acts of terrorism, said to be discussing plans to target the town of Royal Wootton Bassett.
  • R v Khobaib Hussain at Woolwich Crown Court (2013) - Preparing acts of terrorism: travelling to Pakistan for terrorist training.
  • R v Farmer at the Court of Appeal (2013) – Criminal Barrister Nick Wrack represented many students arrested during the 2010 student fees protests. This was one of only two trials when his client was convicted. In this case, Nick successfully appealed the conviction.
  • R v Baybasin at Liverpool Crown Court (2011) - Nick Wrack acted as Leading Counsel for the main defendant in one of Britain’s biggest ever drugs importation cases involving 40 tons of cocaine with a street value of £4 billion. The case was reported in The Mirror.
  • R v BX at Central Criminal Court (2010) - Breaching a terrorist control order.
  • R v Joe Glenton at Court of Appeal (2010) - Nick Wrack represented Joe Glenton, a Soldier charged with desertion for refusing to do a second tour of duty in Afghanistan, in 2010. Following substantial written submissions challenging the legality of the war, the charge was dropped to being Absent Without Leave (AWOL). Nick featured prominently in Joe’s book Soldier Box. The case was reported in The Telegraph.
  • R v Saleem and others at Kingston Crown Court (2009) – Nick Wrack represented defendants charged with incitement to commit terrorism (murder) abroad and incitement to raise funds for terrorism.
  • R v S (F) and A(S) at Court of Appeal (2009) – In this case, Nick dealt with the privilege against self-incrimination in the context of sections 49 and 53 Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. The trial involved a conspiracy to breach a terrorist control order and a refusal to hand over an encrypted computer file.
  • R v Tirnaveanu at Canterbury Crown Court (2007) – Criminal Defence Barrister Nick Wrack was leading counsel in this trial and subsequent re-trial which lasted over five months. The trials dealt with allegations of fraud, forgery, deception and immigration offences. Over the course of the proceedings, Nick successfully submitted that the trial judge should withdraw from the case on the basis of apparent bias against his client.
+ Qualifications
  • MA University of Cambridge
  • LLB University of Cambridge
+ Professional Memberships
  • Criminal Bar Association (CBA)
  • Fraud Lawyers Association
  • Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers

Contact Us

If you have a Crime case you need advice or advocacy for, call our Criminal Clerks Paul Mander and Greg Highton on 0161 832 4036, e-mail [email protected], [email protected], or fill out our contact form.


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