William is a partner and the head of the Civil Liberties Department at ITN Solicitors. He joined the firm in 2017 and is based in our London office. Previously William worked at firm specialising in prisoner rights. He has been ranked in the Chambers and Partners directory for the past five years.
He specialises in bringing actions against the state that concern breaches of human rights, discrimination and national security issues, within the fields of judicial review, actions against public authorities and data rights. William regularly represents the families at coronial inquests. Some of the notable cases that he has been involved in are detailed below.
William is a member of the Association of Prison Lawyers, the Police Action Lawyers Group and the Inquest Lawyers Group.
Prominent Cases
Judicial Review and Public Law
- In Phil Miller v FCDO & ICO, he acts for the journalist Phil Miller in his appeal against the Foreign Office’s refusal to disclose files relating to its involvement in the Sri Lankan civil war (Declassified Article).
- In R(Macmillan) v SSJ [2025] EWHC 273 he acted for the Claimant in a successful challenge to Secretary of State’s decision that he should remain a Category A prisoner.
- In QX v SSHD [2024] UKSC he acted for QX in their successful response to the Home Secretary’s Supreme Court appeal, in establishing that Article 6(1) is engaged in a review of the imposition of a Temporary Exclusion Order and thus the Home Secretary is required to provide enhanced disclosure of the details of the underlying allegations.
- In Derek Moss v The Upper Tribunal [2024] EWCA Civ 1414 he represented Mr Moss in his successful appeal against the Upper Tribunal’s decision to refuse to provide him with statements of case in linked proceedings before the Upper Tribunal. This is a leading judgment on the application of the Open Justice principle.
- In C3 & C4 v SSFCDA [2023] EWCA Civ 444 he represented C4 in her application for a writ of habeas corpus before the Court of Appeal, seeking to secure her release from detention in North East Syria.
- In Uber Britannia Limited v Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council & Ors v Sefton MBC [2023] EWHC 1975 (KB) he represented the App Drivers and Couriers’ Union in a successful intervention before the High Court.
- In R (Ullah) v NCA and Others [2023] EWHC 1440 (Admin), he acted for Mr Ullah in establishing that “AF (No.3)” disclosure was required in a challenge to the National Crime Agency’s decision to refuse to permit the transfer of compensation to Mr Ullah.
- In Uber London Ltd v TFL & Ohers [2021] EWHC 3290 (Admin), he represented the App Drivers and Couriers Union in their successful defence of Part 8 proceedings brought by Uber that would otherwise have undermined the protections for worker rights that were recognised by the Supreme Court in Aslam.
- In R (Bousfield) v Parole Board of England and Wales [2021] EWHC 3160 (Admin), he represented Mr Bousfield, who succeeded in quashing the Parole Board’s decision not to direct his release from prison.
- In R (Moss) v RBK [2021] EWHC 1032 (Admin), he represented Mr Moss in his successful application for judicial review, following the local authority’s refusal to allow him to inspect its accounts under the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014.
- In R (Tiffin & Another) v Chief Constable of Sussex Police (2019), William brought a successful out of hours judicial review of a refusal to grant his client accreditation to attend the Labour Party conference (Guardian Report).
- In R(Henley-Smith) v SSJ [2017] EWHC 1948 (Admin) he brought a judicial review on behalf of an IPP prisoner seeking the relaxation of the release test for IPP prisoners under section 128 of LASPO.
Actions Against Public Authorities
William routinely acts for individuals in civil claims for damages regarding arbitrary detention, unlawful arrest, assault, negligence and in claims for breaches of human rights and for discrimination. He has particular experience in bringing claims on behalf of those affected by the criminal justice system.
Inquests
- William represents the family of Marcus Evans who was tragically killed by a police vehicle in a road traffic collision (BBC Report).
- Acted for the family of Matty Sheldrick at the inquest into their tragic death, following their admission to the Royal Sussex Hospital (BBC Report).
- Represented the family of Lance Clark in the inquest into his tragic death at HMP Chelmsford (BBC Report).
- Represented the family of Ben Maslin in the inquest into his tragic death at HMP Chelmsford (Essex Live Report).
- Represented the family of Yuri Hatton in the inquest into his tragic death at HMP Wandsworth (ES Report).