Lawyer in the news

Who? Christopher Hartnell, 46-year-old criminal specialist and founding partner of three-partner south London firm Hartnells.

Why is he in the news? Represented the two teenage brothers who were last week cleared of murdering ten-year-old Damilola Taylor in Peckham.

It is believed to be the first high-profile murder case since the 1970s in which the defendants have been acquitted by a jury.

Two other teenage boys originally also stood trial for the murder, but the cases against them were thrown out by the judge earlier in the trial.

Background: Degree in law and English at Keele University in 1975-78 followed by a stint working as a hospital porter.

He completed his Law Society finals at the City of London Polytechnic in 1981, and qualified with Clapham firm HCL Hanne & Co in 1985.

After completing his articles, he joined south London firm Leon Kaye & Co, where he became partner in 1986.

He set up Hartnells in 1991.

Route to the case: 'I'm the family's solicitor.'

Thoughts on the case: 'The prosecution's evidence was incredibly weak; they didn't check, corroborate or reject evidence properly, and that was why the cases against the other two defendants collapsed.

By putting forward the theory that Damilola may have accidentally injured himself on the bottle, we mounted an active defence - a dangerous strategy, but combined with the mobile phone records [which placed the boys more than a mile from the scene], one that worked.

We were outnumbered in the case: we had only five or six experts, ranged against 140 officers and the force of the Crown Prosecution Service, and I feel proud that we were successful.

But there are no winners - my clients can never have a normal life, and Damilola's parents have no answers to why their son died.'

Dealing with the media: 'My clients have been vilified by the press and I'm not ruling out a complaint to the Press Complaints Commission or a libel case.

People - including the jury - are willing to believe the worst, and it was vital for us to get our side across.

But Scotland Yard has a sophisticated media unit which gave daily briefings, and papers weren't always interested in the defence.'

Victoria MacCallum