Initially William specialised in defending and gained a reputation for being a robust defender who was able to develop a good rapport with his lay clients. That approach remains firmly with him. He has been complemented in the past for being able to deal with people from all backgrounds and in particular with young offenders.

He is always keen to ensure when defending that both defendants and their families are kept fully informed about the trial process.

William has extensive experience at the criminal bar and has defended in most areas of the criminal law and often leads. He now particularly enjoys the more complex cases. He now has a mixed prosecution and defence practice.

He is a grade ‘A’ prosecutor for RCPO and has recently completed the successful prosecution of some 16 defendants, leading 2 juniors.

William prosecutes for the CPS in Surrey, Sussex and London. He has prosecuted numerous serious sex cases on their behalf. He has been complemented for his approach to victims and their families.

Cases involving disclosure issues are a particular interest.

William also has a wide experience in disciplinary hearing work.
He is a teacher of advocacy and ethics for Lincoln’s Inn.

William lives with his family on the Sussex/ Kent border.

William Saunders is accredited by the Bar Council to provide Public Access services

Cases of note.

R v Lynch & Ors 2008 Conspiracy to supply class A drugs. Leading for the prosecution in this case that attracted much media attention due to the extensive profits made from selling drugs in wholesale quantities. The defendants supplied large quantities of drugs from an address in South London which had been under surveillance for months by the police. The surveillance evidence was presented by powerpoint and other interactive computer technology. It is anticipated that the format will be usd as a model for presentation of similar cases based on observation evidence due to the clarity and time saving it achieves.

R v Amin & Ors (operation budget) Instructed to lead in this multi-handed case of large scale tax evasion that involved a loss to the revenue of £15m. Prosecuted 16 defendants in 3 trials.

R v Watson and Watson. Instructed to defend mother and daughter accused of murder. Case became a “cause celebre”. Prosecution dropped the case on the day of trial. Case based on complex ballistics that were shown to be flawed.

R v Murphy 2007 CAR………..The leading authority on “Bad character”. Instructed to defend Mr.Murphy who was accused of criminal damage by the use of a sawn off shotgun. He was acquitted at his re-trial following his appeal to the Court of Appeal.

R v Ayres. Instructed for the prosecution in “baby shaking” murder.

R v Walker. Instructed for the prosecution in this rape by a young defendant of a woman with substantial learning difficulties.