Olivia Rawlings
- CPS Advocate Panel (General Crime) – Grade 2
- Criminal Bar Association
- Women in Criminal Law
- Young Fraud Lawyers Association
- Honourable Society of Middle Temple
- Bar Professional Training Course, City Law School
- Graduate Diploma in Law, City, University of London
- BA(Hons) English and Music, Keele University
- ICCA Advocacy & The Vulnerable (Crime)
Instructing Olivia Rawlings
To instruct Olivia or for any further information please contact our clerks on +44 (0)20 7440 8888 or clerks@2br.co.uk.
Olivia Rawlings has a busy criminal practice defending and prosecuting in the Crown Court, magistrates’ courts and youth courts. She is instructed on both a privately and publicly funded basis.
Olivia has experience dealing with offences across the spectrum of general crime including serious violence, drug supply, weapons and sexual offences. She is adept at representing vulnerable individuals. She also enjoys representing clients charged with motoring offences.
Olivia was successful in the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division), appealing a sentence for an offence of causing grievous bodily harm with intent (s.18 OAPA 1861) committed against a serving police officer. Her client’s prison sentence was reduced from 4 years and 9 months to 3 years.
Alongside her criminal work, Olivia is developing a practice in regulatory law and is regularly instructed in healthcare matters before bodies including the General Dental Council and General Pharmaceutical Council.
Before coming to the Bar, Olivia worked as a paralegal at Sonn Macmillan Walker solicitors for 18-months dealing with mainly criminal matters but also regulatory and extradition. Before that she worked on capital defence cases in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Practice Areas
Notable criminal defence cases
R v KS
Olivia’s client was unanimously acquitted of causing GBH with intent (s.18 OAPA 1861), against a serving police officer. The trial at Woolwich Crown Court involved the cross-examination of police officers on their approach when arresting someone who is neurodivergent and use of force.
R v SW
Olivia’s client was unanimously acquitted of possessing a Class B drug with intent to supply at the Central Criminal Court. He was observed by police transporting 5.5kg of cannabis, with a street value of £55,000, in his vehicle. The defence was that the cannabis was for personal use.
R v RS
Client’s good character was reinstated following a successful appeal against conviction at Woolwich Crown Court. Olivia successfully argued against the Crown’s application to adduce key evidence as res gestae, causing the Crown to offer no evidence.
R v JM
Client sentenced to a 24-month suspended sentence order for possessing Class A drugs with intent to supply. Despite the court finding that his offending fell into ‘significant role’ with a starting point of 4.5 years’ custody, after mitigation the court was persuaded that the sentence ought to be suspended.
R v VR
Client was sentenced to 8 months’ imprisonment suspended for 18 months for offences including making indecent Category A images of children, despite having a previous conviction for similar offending, after having been committed to the Crown Court on the basis that the Magistrates’ Court powers (imposing up to a 12-month sentence) were insufficient.
R v HC
Olivia’s client was acquitted of ABH and retained his good character following a successful half-time submission of no case to answer. The 5-day trial involved cross-examination of multiple prosecution eyewitnesses.
R v LA
Off-duty police officer acquitted of assault following a successful submission of no case to answer at half-time.
R v JM
Client pleaded guilty to robbery and received a 12-month community order following mitigation.
R v JW
Client pleaded guilty to two offences of controlling and coercive behaviour over different time periods and one offence of domestic related ABH. The court held that the starting point for one offence of controlling and coercive was 2.5 years’ custody, but after mitigation imposed a sentence of 2 years’ custody suspended for 2 years for all matters.
R v DM
The Crown offered no evidence on a GBH charge after an application to adduce the complainant’s account as hearsay evidence was successfully resisted by Olivia.
R v LL
A charge of aggravated vehicle taking was dismissed against Olivia’s client following her successful legal argument on autrefois and abuse of process.
R v ER
Client sentenced to an absolute discharge after pleading guilty to assault and two s.4(A) Public Order Act offences. It was successfully advanced at sentence that Olivia’s client should not be punished having suffered racial abuse and harassment at the hands of the complainants.
Notable road traffic cases
R v JS
Successful appeal of sentence to the Crown Court where a 6-month disqualification ordered under the “totting up” provisions was overturned.
R v OR
Successfully argued exceptional hardship where her client otherwise fell to be disqualified from driving having “totted”. He was sentenced and his licence endorsed but he was not disqualified. He relied upon his vehicle to work and pay the family finances.
R v DG
Successfully argued exceptional hardship for a client who was suffering with a serious illness and relied on their vehicle to attend hospital.
R v SO
Olivia successfully argued special reasons for a charge of no insurance, and her client received an absolute discharge.
R v SC
New Driver case. Client sentenced to a 6-week disqualification and financial penalty for driving into a pedestrian at a zebra crossing. The pedestrian travelled up onto the car’s bonnet before hitting the road headfirst. Injuries included lacerations to the head and a fractured thumb.
R v MM
Olivia successfully argued special reasons for a charge of speeding, and her client received an absolute discharge.
R v JS
Successful appeal of sentence to the Crown Court. The penalty points that had been imposed for speeding were removed from her client’s licence following a successful special reasons argument.
