A lawyer with experience in high profile criminal cases has joined a leading Carlisle legal firm.

David Wales has returned to Carlisle to join the team at Wragg Mark-Bell as the firm’s higher courts advocate in its crime team.

Mr Wales has been involved in a number of notable cases during the 20 years since he qualified as a barrister including what was at the time the UK’s largest ever medical insurance fraud case.

His most recent job was with the Crown Prosecution Service in Leeds working on rape and serious sexual offences.

Prior to that Mr Wales, 44, was worked for a number of firms across North London and the Thames Valley where he handled cases ranging from large scale frauds, serious sexual offences, homicide and presenting cases to the High Court and the Court of Appeal.

He said was looking forward to taking on more cases at Carlisle Crown Court.

He added: “One of the things I find most satisfying as a defence advocate is that you are providing representation to those that most people wouldn’t want to help and giving them an opportunity to put their case as if they had your knowledge and experience.

“It’s satisfying being able to challenge the evidence and being able to cross-examine witnesses and in the end it’s about communicating to a jury and persuading them, if you can, of your client’s case – there’s a great deal of satisfaction involved in that.”

He has worked in Carlisle before and said he was pleased to return.

He added: “Here, you can be working in a city and then drive five minutes into a very rural area such as where we’re living.

“There are lots of advantages, particularly when you have children and mine are 15 and five. I would rather they grow up where they can breathe the air and know who their neighbours are."