Called: 1988

Simon Crabtree

Simon Crabtree became a tenant at chambers in October 2024, bringing with him a wealth of experience and a distinguished reputation after many successful years of practice at a previous set renowned for its expertise in all areas of Family Law.

With over three decades of experience, Simon has developed significant expertise in the fields listed below and is widely respected and recognised for his knowledge and skill.

 

Areas of Expertise:

• Public and Private Law children’s work
• Financial remedies and associated cases
• Regulatory work and Judicial review
• Inquests

Public Law Children Work

Simon Crabtree’s practice has for over 30 years spanned every aspect of this type of work.  

The mainstay of his practice has always been public law work, particularly in care and wardship.  He regularly represents many local authorities in Greater Manchester and the surrounding areas, as well as parents, children and intervenors, ensuring a balanced perspective in his approach.

Although he still works at all levels, his practice is largely focussed on High Court and Circuit Bench cases.  

The diversity of his caseload is significant.  It includes international child trafficking and terrorism, slavery, gang related conflicts and county lines issues as well as the more usual cases involving catastrophic head injuries or significant other physical injuries to children and domestic homicide and/or abuse.  In addition, he has an interest in DOLS cases and the delicate balance they involve between safe care and individual liberty.  

His longevity of involvement and his diverse case load has also meant that he has worked on high-profile cases which have led to his further involvement in Inquests, Inquiries and joint gold group operations between a local authority and the police.  A few historic examples are:

• The Everall Inquiry – Public inquiry into the only double murder of two young people whilst in care on the Isle of Man.
• The Patterson Inquiry – Inquiry into the death of a child at the hands of her mentally ill mother.
• The Inquest into the Death of Sabina Akhtar – Examination of the unlawful killing of a mother by her partner during ongoing multi-agency involvement.
• The Trafford House Fires Inquest – Investigation into the deaths of a mother and some of her children in an arson attack perpetrated by a former partner amidst multi-agency involvement.
• Operation Cleopatra – The Greater Manchester investigation into historical child abuse in care homes. 

Others of more recent origin have included issues such as corporate manslaughter and the deaths of young people connected in some way to the care system.  However, although many of these were held in public, he sees no benefit in specifically mentioning them by name given they are already reported, and further publicity would not be welcomed by the victims in those cases.

 

Judicial Review and Regulatory Matters

Simon often advises local authorities on judicial review matters, especially those involving the Children Act 1989 and related legislation.  He has a particular focus on issues relating to the allowances provided to different types of carers and Section 17 payments to those with no recourse to public funds.  

In a number of instances, the above has led to him being instructed to either draft or revise existing policy documents.

 

Private Law Children Work

Due to his interest in ‘parental alienation’ (and which often result in later public law involvement), Simon will represent parents and grandparents in private law children’s work.  He often says some of those are even more complex than his public law work.

 

Financial Remedies

Welcoming a change from words to numbers, Simon has always maintained a financial remedy practice throughout his career.  While most of his current cases are complex and involve significant issues or assets, he remains committed to the principle of ‘legal services for all’ and accepts instructions accordingly.