- Civil: civil@qsc.law
- Crime: crime@qsc.law
- Employment: employment@qsc.law
- Family: family@qsc.law
- Civil: civil@qsc.law
- Crime: crime@qsc.law
- Employment: employment@qsc.law
- Family: family@qsc.law
- Adam Griffiths
- Alexandra Bull
- Alex Daymond
- Alicia Doble
- Andrea Chute (Door Tenant)
- Andrew Stone
- Andy Pickett
- Ann Darian
- Anna Johns
- Bethany Burnard
- Catherine Flint
- Charles Goodall
- Charles Row KC
- Charlotte Evans
- David Maunder – Head of Crime
- Dr David Thomas
- Ellen McAnaw
- Emily Evans
- George Threlfall
- Hamish MacBean – Head of Chancery & Commercial
- Hazel Shipp
- Ian Halliday – Head of Family
- Ieuan Callaghan
- James Tucker
- Jack Barry
- Jennifer Linford
- Jeremy Phillips KC (Door Tenant)
- James Bromige – Head of Employment
- Joanna Lewis – Head of PI and Clinical Negligence
- Kannan Siva
- Karen Rea
- Lauren Seager
- Leanne Woodman
- Louise Brown
- Lucie Stoker
- Lucy Swanton
- Mark Cotter KC (Door Tenant)
- Mark Williams
- Civil: civil@qsc.law
- Crime: crime@qsc.law
- Employment: employment@qsc.law
- Family: family@qsc.law
Kannan Siva
Barrister
Position: Barrister
Kannan Siva is a criminal practitioner who has vast experience of defending serious and complex conspiracies relating to drugs and firearms, organised crime, allegations of extreme violence, kidnap, blackmail and fraud. He also prosecutes serious criminal cases and has been a CPS panel advocate level 4 prosecutor since 2009.
He is regularly instructed in cases of murder and other fatalities and is increasingly instructed in allegations of attempted murder.
He has appeared for both Defence and Prosecution against King’s Counsel as the sole advocate or as the leading junior or led junior. Kannan has regularly appeared as the lead advocate in 2-counsel cases for Defence or Prosecution for over a decade.
• Operation Bezel (2024) – D acquitted after 4-week multi-handed trial alleging conspiracy to commit GBH. Cross-examination of experts in cell-site mobile phone analysis and DNA.
• R v MH No. 2 (2023) Bristol Crown Court – Defence of man acquitted of false imprisonment and assault including alleged strangulation. Bad character of defendant admitted.
• R v RL (2022) Gloucester Crown Court – Defence of man acquitted of attempted murder after a 7-day retrial, where RL admitted causing multiple wounds to the torso, legs and hands with 2 weapons. D had already pleaded guilty to section 18. Prosecution relied upon internet searches, including some relating to murder. Cross-examination of prosecution forensic pathologist re causation and anatomy. Exploration of purpose of RL and confined nature of revenge.
• R v MH No. 1 (2022) Bristol Crown Court – Defence of man acquitted after 2-handed trial of possession of imitation firearm with intent and a “pistol whipping” assault. Kannan represented the first defendant and cross-examination involved analysis of history of messaging between the complainant and defendant.
• R v EH (2022) Cardiff CC – Defence of section 18 GBH involving multiple fractures and complex issue of causation. Bad character of complainant. Complainant admitted during cross-examination, when CCTV shown, that he had not been truthful in his initial evidence to jury. Prosecution offered no evidence.
• R v V (2022) Court of Appeal – Represented appellant. Appeal against sentence allowed. Suspended sentence could be imposed for serious offence wounding by glassing, resulting in permanent scarring to teenager’s face and lasting nerve damage: “the courts generally will always be reluctant to send a young offender with no previous convictions and no likelihood of reoffending to an immediate term of imprisonment unless the circumstances absolutely compel it”, even if the offence is serious.
• R v MD (2021) Kingston Crown Court. Defence in conspiracy to supply class A drugs. Written submissions based on principle of double jeopardy, namely that the prosecution amounted to an “aggravated form” of the conspiracy to which the defendant pleaded guilty in Bristol in 2020. Prosecution offered no evidence after reconsideration of public interest following abuse of process submissions.
• ‘Operation Amazon’ (2021) Cardiff Crown Court – Leading Junior for the Defence. Issues involved modern slavery and consideration of public interest and ambit of offence for those who are cuckooed.
• ‘Operation Glendora’ (2020 and 2021) Bristol Crown Court – Leading Junior for the Prosecution in a complex case in which convictions secured against all defendants for offences of human trafficking, management of a brothel and money laundering. Cases involved advising on further defendants and legal issues including severance of money-laundering count. Investigation shown in Channel 4 documentary in July 2021 “Taken: Hunting the Sex Traffickers”.
• ‘Operation Bounty’ (2019 and 2020) Bristol Crown Court – Defence application to dismiss conspiracy to murder allegation upheld when Kannan’s lay client initially appeared as the first defendant. Kannan acted as junior alone. Permissible and safe inferences from telephony. Defendant subsequently added as third defendant accused of assisting an offender. Defendant acquitted after two weeks of prosecution case.
• ‘Operation Attica’ (2018) Bristol Crown Court – Leading Junior for the Defence of first defendant in multi-defendant six-week Class A drug-trafficking trial. Issues included unsuccessful application to exclude co-defendant’s guilty plea where there was evidence of ambivalence and prevention of adverse inferences from no comment interview when this was not explored by the Prosecution.
• ‘Operation Thorne’ (2017) Plymouth Crown Court – Prosecution of complex 6-week trial of a woman who live-streamed sexual abuse of a very young child to another woman in the USA. Assisted by Disclosure Counsel. Collaborative investigation between UK and FBI.
• ‘Operation Kneel’ (2017) St Albans Crown Court – Leading Junior for the Defence in complex 11-week trial alleging conspiracy to import firearms from The Netherlands. Defendant acquitted.
• R v PK (2015) Bristol Crown Court – Leading Junior for the Prosecution in a trial lasting several weeks in which the defendant was convicted of conspiracy to supply diamorphine from Liverpool to south of England. National scale with international dimension including EAW and bad character evidence from Holland.
Contact us
Queen Square Chambers
56 Queen Square
Bristol
BS1 4PR
–
Queen Square Chambers
3rd Floor, Capital Tower
Greyfriars Road
Cardiff
CF10 3AG
–
0117 921 1966
civil@qsc.law
crime@qsc.law
employment@qsc.law
family@qsc.law
–
Barristers regulated by the Bar Standards Board