Simon Macfarlane

Experience

Simon is a criminal defence and regulatory law specialist with significant experience of providing high quality advice and representation to a range of clients. He is regularly instructed by insurers, corporate bodies, and individuals to defend a broad range of criminal offences, including motoring and regulatory offences, from initial investigation and interview up to and including representation in court. Simon is praised for being an effective trial advocate.

Simon is recognised as a 'Leading Associate' in Crime by Legal 500 (2025).

Simon is recognised as an 'Associate to Watch' in Health and Safety by Chambers and Partners (2025).

Testimonials

• Simon is very diligent and he goes the extra mile. (Chambers and Partners, 2025)
• He is fantastic. He is very detailed, diligent, invested and inventive. (Chambers and Partners, 2025)
• He is very experienced and pragmatic. (Chambers and Partners, 2025)
• Simon Macfarlane, who dealt with our case, was exceptional. He was enthusiastic, meticulously thorough in his preparation and had a great depth of knowledge. He was confident and inspired confidence which gave a huge amount of comfort and relief. (Legal 500, 2025)
• There is a real ethos within DWF of prioritising every case and achieving consistent excellence. (Chambers and Partners 2024) 
• The team is extremely knowledgeable, with a very strong ability to remain focused and supportive. (Chambers and Partners 2024)
• I appreciated your time, skill and sensitivity throughout this extremely difficult period. The outcome could not have been better and this is entirely thanks to your efforts and thoroughness. My family and I feel very much in your debt. (A client sentenced for Causing Death by Careless Driving)
• I would just like to express my heartfelt thanks to you for all your hard work ensuring we achieved the right result. The past year has been hard to say the least, however your support and relentless hard work during this time made such a difference, I am forever grateful. Whilst I hope to never need your expertise again, should I ever be in such a position I couldn’t wish for a better team to represent me. (A client acquitted of Driving without Due Care and Attention)
• We would like to thank you so much for your help with our unfortunate incident, the service you gave us was excellent in every way. (A farmer charged with environmental offences) 
• I cannot thank Simon enough for his professionalism and the way that he supported both myself and my team. Simon put everyone at ease, made himself available anytime and was very thorough in his investigation of the event. The Coroner’s outcome was a good outcome for the home. (A healthcare provider following the Inquest into the death of their resident)

Recent Cases

Regulatory Cases:

• HSE v DD Ltd - Defence of a company and their employee accused of health and safety offences following a collision on farmland resulting in the death of a pedestrian. No further action taken by the HSE.
• HSE v GC Ltd- Defence of a company accused of health and safety offences following a fallen tree resulting in serious injury to a child. No further action taken by the HSE. 
• MHRA v T Ltd - Representation of a company under investigation by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency following the death of a child.
• EA v CF Ltd – Representation of a farmer prosecuted for environmental offences by the Environmental Agency. 

Road Traffic Cases:

• R v ID – Defence at the Crown Court  for a driver charged with Causing Death by Careless Driving. No evidence offered by the Crown before the trial commenced.
• R v CT – Defence of a driver charged with Careless Driving and Driving a Vehicle in a Dangerous Condition. The Careless Driving prosecution was discontinued after Simon served written representations. In relation to the outstanding charge, Simon secured an Absolute Discharge for the driver and successfully argued against mandatory licence endorsement. 
• R v BE – Successfully argued for the Magistrates' Court to accept jurisdiction and secured a suspended sentence for a driver charged with two offences of Causing Serious Injury by Careless Driving, as well as Drug Driving whilst over the prescribed limit for Cannabis. 
• R v BJ – Secured a financial penalty at the Magistrates' Court for a driver charged with Causing Death by Careless Driving. 
• R v LR – Secured a suspended sentence at the Crown Court for a driver charged with Causing Serious Injury by Dangerous Driving, Failing to Stop (at the scene of the accident) and Excess Alcohol after a collision with a cyclist.
• R v JM - Defence at the Crown Court for a tractor driver charged with Causing Death by Careless Driving after a collision with a motorcycle. Case discontinued after representations were made.
• R v KB – Secured an acquittal for a defendant charged with Driving without Due Care and Attention after a submission of no case to answer.
• R v BP - Defence of a driver charged with failing to provide a specimen for analysis. Obtained medical evidence in relation to the defendant’s learning difficulties and successfully argued that he could not have understood the statutory warning. Case discontinued.
• R v HT - Secured an acquittal for a defendant charged with failing to provide a specimen for analysis. Simon's cross examination of a police officer revealed that the request for the specimen was not borne from a bona fide investigation and as such should not have been sought.
• Police v TB - Representation at the police station of a suspect accused of Causing Death by Careless Driving. No further action taken and the suspect released following Simon's representations regarding insufficient evidence.

General Crime:

• R v NS - Secured acquittal after trial in the Magistrates’ Court of a police recruit charged with harassment. Case involved cross examination of a juvenile witness and successful opposition of a post-acquittal restraining order that would have affected NS' ability to pursue his career in the police.
• R v JJ - Secured acquittal after a two - day trial in the Magistrates’ Court for a carer of good character charged with fraud by abuse of position. Case involved cross examination of a vulnerable adult.

Inquests

• T Ltd – Represented a distributor of medical equipment following the death of a child in a cot supplied by the company. 
• GCH Ltd - Represented a healthcare provider following the death of a resident at one of their care homes following a chocking incident whereby the risk of choking was known.