Education
LL.B (with Politics) (Hons) - University of Birmingham: 1981
Master of Jurisprudence: 1985
Ph.D: 1986
Professional Qualifications:
M.Soc.Sci (CQSW): 1988
Qualified Solicitor: 1995
Career
Between
1986 and 1992 worked as a lecturer of law, first at Birmingham
Polytechnic (now University of Central England) teaching on a part time
basis and then full time at the University of Sheffield. Teaching
Criminal Law and Evidence and was the criminal law course co-ordinator
for the last year of teaching. Teaching has continued into practice
being one of the lecturers on the North Eastern Circuit's series of
lectures on human rights and the implementation of the Human Rights Act
1998.
A trained social worker who worked with people with hearing
impairment achieving Grade 1 sign language.
Areas of practice
Whilst teaching, specialised in the law of evidence relating to
children and young witnesses and taught on a number of external courses
dealing with this subject e.g. to magistrates, social workers, lawyers.
In legal practice this interest has continued and I now both prosecute
and defend a number of cases involving child abuse and sexual abuse of
both adults and children. Involved in one of the recent leading cases on
sexual history evidence - R v C and B [2003] Archbold News 2.
In addition, I have been the junior in a number of cases of
allegations of child murder and, when prosecuting, have been involved in
the pre-charge stage of the proceedings e.g. R v Bolsover, R v French
& Watson and R v Fletcher.
As well as a large
sexual abuse/cruelty/child abuse practice. I have also been involved in
other types of cases of serious crime including the contaminated food
conspiracy matter heard at the Crown Court at Hull; ultimately being
heard in the Court of Appeal in R v Tantrum & others. Other
cases involve lengthy trials of allegations of conspiracy to supply
prescribed drugs, prosecuted by the National Crime Squad.
Overall despite the
emphasis above, the practice is a mixed one involving all levels of
serious crime both prosecuting, as a Grade 4 prosecutor, and defending.
Referred to in the
Legal 500 2006: "Tina Dempster specialises in cases involving children
and is good with expert witnesses".
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