Lord Martin Thomas of Gresford OBE QC

Martin Thomas QC is one of the most respected and experienced QCs in England and Wales. His practice has involved him in more than 250 homicide trials and appeals in England and Wales, including significant courts martial, the most prominent of which was the Baha Mousa case.

Martin has appeared in terrorist cases both prosecuting and defending, the most notorious being the ‘Brighton Bomb’ case. He has been counsel in many appeals and applications to the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords. In the Privy Council, he has appeared in cases from Hong Kong, Singapore, Brunei and the Caribbean. His career has taken him frequently to Hong Kong on both criminal and civil matters. He has appeared in Malaysian courts in connection with the Carrian fraud case from Hong Kong on behalf of Lorrain Osman, following a long series of habeas corpus and judicial review applications in the UK on extradition issues.

He defended libel actions in Singapore brought by Lee Kwan Yu against the then leader of the Workers’ Party, Ben Jeyaretnam. In the Carribean, he has appeared in the Trinidad Court of Appeal. His wide experience in civil litigation, mainly in personal injury cases, was recognized by his appointment to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board in 1985, a position from which he resigned on the introduction of the tariff system. In Wales, he has been instructed in a number of Statutory Inquiries ranging from road construction to proposals for the drowning of the Dulas Valley and the digging for gold in the Mawddach Estuary.

Martin has had a long and illustrious political career, where he was made a Life Peer in 1996. He is a spokesman on Welsh Affairs and on Home Affairs (specifically Criminal Justice Reforms, including anti-terrorism).