Correna Platt

Biography

Correna is a Partner in our criminal defence team and has specialised in criminal litigation since the start of her career in 1994. She deals with cases throughout England and Wales.

Correna specialises in serious, complex and high profile criminal cases with extensive skill and experience in helping those facing criminal prosecutions in the Crown Court. She is meticulous in her approach to cases which often involve many thousands of pages of witness statements, exhibits and other evidence.

She specialises in offences of murder and serious sexual offences and she has a particular interest in cases involving forensic issues and medical defences.

She also has extensive experience of representing clients in serious fraud cases, restraint and confiscation orders and proceeds of crime proceedings.

Correna’s success rate is exceptional.

Recent murder instructions have involved complex multi handed cases looking at issues of causation and joint enterprise  and a historic baby shaking case where death came 14 years after conviction for assault

Correna is one of the country’s leading criminal lawyers, regularly writing articles for various publications and is invited to speak at conferences. She is regularly quoted in national and local press publications and has previously appeared as a criminal defence expert in BBC 2 documentary, “Conviction, murder at the station”. The documentary drew on the experiences of leading experts working with the charity Inside Justice looking at the cold case of Roger Kearney.

Appeals

Correna has extensive experience in serious complex and high-profile crime including murder, fraud  and drugs offences, this gives her a unique perspective when advising clients regarding appeals as she understands the process of the criminal justice from the beginning to the conclusion of a case.

Correna trained under Campbell Malone and is recognised as a leader in appeal work.

She is regularly instructed to advise regarding appeals against conviction and sentence and out of time applications.

She will provide comprehensive written advice to explain the process and the realistic prospects of an appeal.

She has built up a network of experts in the legal, medical and forensic arenas.

She has provided legal advise to the Inside Justice organisation who are a non profit organisation fighting for miscarriage of justice.

She takes a particular interest in cases involving alleged assaults on children known as baby shaking cases

She specialises in applications to appeal against the sentences imposed for public protection.

Her successful applications to the Court of Appeal have resulted in convictions being over turned

Correna is recognised as a leading individual by The Legal 500 for both her fraud and general crime work.

Expertise

• Serious fraud
• Murder / manslaughter
• Baby shaking cases
• Sexual offences
• Historic rape cases
• Proceeds of crime
• Cybercrime
• Appeals

Education

• Studied at Chester Law School (LSF)
• Studied at the University of Loughborough (MSC in Criminology and Criminal Justice)
• Studied at the University of Manchester  (LLB Hons)

Professional memberships

• Member of the Criminal Appeal Lawyers Association
• Member of the Inside Justice team

Testimonials

Correna is recognised a as a band 1 notable practitioner by Chambers & Partners (2024): 

"Correna Platt is a highly experienced practitioner with in-depth criminal law knowledge. Platt is very well versed in cases involving murder and sexual offences.

"Correna Platt is hard-working and knows what she is doing."

"Correna is refreshing in her client care, she is always responsive."

"Correna has really good judgement, is extremely organised, realistic and is good with clients." - Chambers & Partners

“If you are ever in the unfortunate position of finding yourself charged with a serious crime and having to attend Crown Court to defend your innocence, you want the best team available to help you navigate through the mess. Correna seems to have everything you would want in these situations; she has a very relaxed,  personable demeanour - which helps through the emotional times – she works diligently in gathering and scrutinising evidence, pointing out the strengths and weaknesses, she selects the best barrister for the case to suit your case type and location, and ultimately puts your needs first. Her team were very helpful in assisting me in the legal aid claims being made in the early stages which really helped put my mind at ease that all was being taken care of. I can’t recommend her highly enough; I’m not from Manchester or that area but chose Correna nonetheless, a decision I did not regret.” - View from a satisfied client

"Corenna has a real eye for detail and is extremely personable. She deals with serious and complex Crown Court cases and is often instructed in some of the regions largest cases on circuit." - Legal 500

‘Correna Platt is an excellent solicitor and one who always puts the client first and concentrates to a very great degree on the concerns of the client but does not lose focus or attention to the case as a whole or the global picture. Her attention to detail and the ability to use a diverse type of resources marks her out as an innovator.’ - Legal 500

'Correna Platt is an unflappable and experienced lawyer with an unerring ability to get directly to the problem. In a recent case that we did together she corralled complex facts into a workable format. She is able to transmit with force her piercing critique of the prosecution’s case.' - Legal 500

‘Correna is the stand-out performer who is super sharp and has a fantastic ability of putting every client at ease. We know she is a very safe pair of hands and manages the transition in a very caring and professional manner. She is extremely knowledgeable and a very experienced lawyer.’ - Legal 500

“Thank you for absolutely everything, I just want to make it clear that you have been so amazing in every way possible. The effort you have both put in has helped me so much, I can’t thank you and Fiona enough.” - Harry Burgess

"Correna Platt is recommended for her ‘detailed and knowledgeable input’ and for her ‘dedication and diligence’." - Legal 500

"Correna Platt always goes that extra mile, providing detailed and knowledgeable input and an obvious interest in the client and his/her outcome. I value her dedication and diligence and attention to detail." - Legal 500

"Correna Platt is a fantastically committed criminal solicitor.  She is totally committed to her clients and goes the extra mile all the time for them." - Legal 500

"I have dealt with Correna and the team for a while now and they have been very good. Although most of our contact has been through emails they have always responded very quickly and dealt with things very efficiently. I would describe them as helpful, knowledgeable and understanding." - View from a satisfied client

"I manage a team of Barristers and am fortunate to be instructed by Stephensons. The quality of the instructions are second to none, they are true experts in the areas of law they cover and it is clear that they do everything possible to get the very best result for their clients. There are some members of the team that I see go above and beyond the service levels provided by many top firms. These include Carl Johnson, Correna Platt, Colin Rawson & John Greenwood. All amazingly committed to their clients. I can't recommend them enough." 

Reported cases

The Court of Appeal gave judgment in Boyle Transport (Northern Ireland) Limited v. R and R v. Patrick Boyle and Mark Boyle [2016] EWCA Crim 19, in which it quashed substantial confiscation and enforcement receivership orders. The case is an important one in relation to piercing the corporate veil in confiscation cases, and is the most detailed consideration by the Court of Appeal in this context of the general principles set out by the Supreme Court in Prest v Petrodel Resources Limited [2013] 2 AC 415.

The case of Hedgcock & Others 2007 EWCA Crim 3486: point of principle relating “to the correct approach to be taken by a jury in a criminal case to an invitation by the Crown to draw an inference adverse to a defendant from primary facts.” (LJ Laws). Cited with approval recently in: Goddard & another 2012 EWCA 1756, Darnly 2012 EWCA Crim 1148.

In R v Hunter and Ors [2015] EWCA Crim 631 considered the question of when a good character direction is required, and the effect on the safety of convictions where one is required but is not given.

Recent cases

Manchester Crown Court - attempt murder of a female . The prosecution case was that the defendant had caused 24 individual stab wounds which were life threatening . The case eventually was sentenced as a section18 assault

Chelmsford Crown Court - murder. The defendant was charged with murder which related to a conviction from 2002 for a section 18 assault on a child. The child had since died of the injures relating to the assault. Despite the evidential burden of proof being switched to the defence, we were able to obtain new medical evidence which persuaded the Crown that the original conviction was unsafe and that the case should proceed as a manslaughter and not murder

Preston Crown Court - conspiracy to supply Class A drugs. The defendant was part of a large multi-handed case and initially it was the Crowns case that she instrumental in  the supply of others of heroin in her home town. A Newton Hearing took place which resulted in the role of the defendant being significantly reduced to such an extent that this allowed a non-custodial sentence

Liverpool Crown Court – rape. The defendant was charged with rape of a male based on the fact that the male was too drunk to consent. The Crown during the course of the trial accepted a plea to a lesser offence which resulted in a non-custodial sentence

Preston Crown Court – manslaughter of a child. The case was successfully argued which resulted in the jury returning not guilty verdicts to manslaughter and she was convicted of causing or allowing the death of a child. This resulted in a much lower sentence being given

She is currently representing a number of defendants at Crown Courts throughout the UK which are awaiting trial for large drugs conspiracies and are based upon Encro phone evidence. The cases are still pending