Who? Raj Chada, 33-year-old criminal law partner at north London firm Hodge Jones & Allen.



Why is he in the news? Represented 68-year-old Malcolm Donald, who was found guilty at Southampton Crown Court of placing hoax bombs at a BP refinery in Hampshire. The court heard that after becoming concerned about security at the oil terminal, close to where he lives, he planted two pretend devices on New Year's Day last year in an attempt to step up security. He filmed himself planting the hoax devices, which were hardback copies of Miller's antiques titles with 'this is a bomb' written on top and his telephone number on the inside covers. After security guards failed to pick up the security breaches, Mr Donald sent a copy of the video to the police, BP and his local MP. Sentencing has been adjourned but the judge warned that Mr Donald could face jail.



Background: Law degree at Jesus College, Cambridge followed by the legal practice course at the College of Law in Chester. He completed his training contract with Newcastle firm David Gray and qualified in 1998. He took a couple of months off, before joining his current firm in 1999. He was made a partner in 2002.



Route to the case: Referral.



Thoughts on the case: 'It is ludicrous that the Crown Prosecution Service took the decision to prosecute this case - it is not in the public interest. Whatever the merits of the case and the burden of proof, it's clear what Mr Donald's overriding motive was. The public interest should be to ensure the security of potential terrorist targets rather than prosecute Mr Donald for raising the alarm. He indicated he had looked on MI5's Web site, which told members of the public to be vigilant, and he had taken this advice on board. No one would have known about his actions if he had not sent the videos he had made to the police, BP and his local MP. This is perhaps the sort of thing that some journalists might have done and I'm not sure how many of them would have been prosecuted.'



Dealing with the media: 'I am familiar with this as I used to be the leader of Camden council. The media has been fairly interested because of the ongoing terrorist situation in the UK and have been genuinely interested in finding Mr Donald's motivation. They have been broadly supportive and have regarded this as a quirky case rather than a serious one.'



Catherine Baksi