APL Executive Committee

In 2012 Laura was described by the Guardian as a lawyer to watch. She founded the national campaign group the Young Legal Aid Lawyers and she received both the 2010 Liberty Human Rights Young Person of the Year award and the 2009 Young Legal Aid Lawyer of the year award on behalf of the group. In 2006 she was named Young Legal Aid Solicitor of the year.  Laura is a visiting fellow at South Bank University where she teaches courses on Human Rights. She was awarded a professional doctorate in youth justice at the University of Bedfordshire in August 2014. Laura is also Chair of the Legal Action Group, a Board member of the Legal Aid Practitioners’ Group, a committee member of the Association of Prison Lawyers, the Criminal Appeal Lawyers' Association and the Mental Health Lawyers’ Association.Laura is a solicitor with higher rights specialising in prison law, criminal appeals and public law. She has an expanding civil practice which encompasses damages claims for clients who have suffered unlawful treatment within the criminal justice system. She has particular expertise in representing vulnerable young people and those serving life sentences.Laura was awarded her higher rights (civil) in 2009 and has a strong public law practice. Her detailed and comprehensive letters before action often result in resolution without the need to resort to litigation.Laura has a particular expertise in the cross-over between community care needs and the criminal justice system. She has acted in many cases concerning the rights and entitlements of young people under the Children Act 1989, especially where they are leaving custody and lack a safe place to live or require accommodation and support in order to have a meaningful parole review. She also regularly acts for vulnerable adults who require support under community care legislation, in particular, those who need support to assist their rehabilitation and ensure their compliance with licence conditions.Laura frequently represents clients who are subject to MAPPA, and is often involved in challenges to unnecessary or disproportionate conditions that impact on the individual's liberty or private life.In 2019, Laura was awarded Solicitor of the Year by the First 100 Years’ Inspirational Women in Law Awards.

Claire jointly manages the Howard League’s legal service, providing advice and representation to children and young adults on a range of prison, public and community care law issues. She co-hosts a legal advice show with National Prison Radio.

Stephanie practices in public law, media law, civil actions against public authorities, and inquests and inquiries. A particular specialism is prison law. Stephanie has a diverse practice spanning public and private law. Much of her work involves representing prisoners or relates to the criminal justice system. Stephanie also practises in media law, including open justice work.

Rikki Garg has been in practice for over 25 years and specialises in prison / mental health / appeals and community care law. He also takes public law challenges on matters arising from these areas of work.Up until recently, Rikki was a Director for another practice as well as the Practice Manger until 2014.Having commenced practice in Criminal law and as an accredited police station representative, Rikki decided to focus on the rights of people in detention. He has been a member of the Law Society’s Mental Health Panel since 1995.He was the chairman of the Prisoners Advice Service, a not-for-profit organisation, providing legal advice to serving prisoners from 2006 to 2014.He was a founding member of the Association of Prison Lawyers (APL) which was established to ensure a high a quality standard for prison law representatives as well as working with key agencies in the development of this area of law.

Andrew specialises in Judicial Review, Parole Board advocacy and human rights.

He has extensive practical experience of the criminal justice and penal systems and significant experience of conducting difficult, high profile judicial review challenges , test cases and appeals.Andrew was a Finalist in the national Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Awards in 2013.  In 2021, Andrew won Legal Aid Lawyer of the year, receiving recognition for all his outstanding work in Social Welfare Law.Andrew is a founding member of the Association of Prison Lawyers (APL), established in 2008 by a small number of practitioners and has since grown to a membership of almost 400 people.  He was instrumental in developing the organisation in size and profile.

Dean has practiced in prison law for around 15 years. He is often at the forefront of the main challenges protecting the rights of prisoners and viewed as someone who works tirelessly to expose injustice and a lawyer who does not shirk from representing those for whom antipathy is to be expected from the courts, or the general public.He conducts all manner of prison law hearings and tends to do a lot of work for those within the high secure estate and represents a number of prisoners within the Close Supervision Centre system. He works closely with JENGBA and UNGRIPP. Achieving release for prisoners who have no support for progression is one of Dean’s passions.

Prior to joining SL5 Legal in 2022, Yasmin acquired a vast amount of experience working as a paralegal in a busy prison law and public law practice. She worked on many complex and high-profile judicial review cases and parole reviews, as well as dealing with security category reviews, recalls to custody, criminal appeals and minimum term review applications. She also worked on applications to the Supreme Court and European Court of Human Rights.

Emma is a prison law solicitor who is particularly experienced in representing clients at paper and oral parole hearings, Category A reviews and Judicial Review. She is based in the northwest but is able to assist clients nationwide.

Hamish Arnott specialises in public law and human rights with a particular focus on the civil liberties of prisoners and those detained under immigration laws.

Lubia Begum-Rob is Director of Prisoners' Advice Service manages and is responsible for the day-to-day running of the organisation.

Bethany is an accomplished and dedicated paralegal who has been a valued member of Reece Thomas Watson Solicitors since September 2022. Bethany has since been applying her legal expertise across multiple areas, including prison law, mental health law, and public law. Her diverse skill set enables her to provide comprehensive support to individuals facing complex legal challenges, with a particular focus on those who are detained or dealing with mental health-related legal issues.

Sally Middleton represents prisoners in parole hearings. She has experience challenging decisions by way of judicial review.

Partner at The Johnson Partnership

John was admitted as a solicitor in 2008 and has specialised in Prison Law throughout his career. He is an experienced and respected advocate, with a reputation for acting in a robust and forthright manner. John is most at home when appearing before the Parole Board and he is well known to Parole Board members throughout the country.

Lorna Hackett is a barrister called in 2003, who has conducted numerous high profile cases in recent years.She has extensive litigation experience, particularly in the areas of judicial review and human rights.

Daniel Guedalla regularly acts for prisoners in challenges against parole board decisions. He handles matters concerning terrorism convictions and segregation, among others.

Stephen Tawiah specialises in public law, sports law and regulatory law. He is also developing an international arbitration practice, with a particular focus on sports. Stephen regularly acts for and against government departments in judicial review claims.

Stuart Withers specialises in public law including: prison law, civil liberties and human rights, inquests, court of protection and education law.