ONE of the UK’s leading lawyers has left hospital and is making “remarkable progress” after being badly injured in a car crash in the new year.

Ebbw Vale-born barrister Patrick Harrington QC was seriously hurt when his BMW collided on the M4 near Newport on Friday, January 3.

The 70-year-old, from Raglan, Monmouthshire, was airlifted to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff and his condition at the time was described as “critical”.

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Farrar’s Building in London, where the criminal lawyer is head of chambers, released a statement on their website to say: “We are delighted to be able to pass on the extremely good news received from Patrick’s wife, Susan, that Patrick is improving daily and will be going home at the end of next week.

“Patrick’s progress over the last four to five weeks has been remarkable.

“Susan and the family want to thank everyone for their continued, very kind messages of support, which are much appreciated.”

The Ebbw Vale Grammar School-educated Mr Harrington was called to the bar in 1973 and became a QC in 1993.

He was appointed an assistant recorder in 1985 and a recorder in 1991.

Mr Harrington was involved in some of the most high-profile trials in Wales in recent decades as both a defence and prosecution barrister.

In 2016, he defended multi-millionaire Monmouthshire property developer Peter Morgan who murdered his mistress Georgina Symonds.

He successfully prosecuted the two hitmen who murdered Cardiff student Aamir Siddiqi in a case of mistaken identity in 2012.

Mr Harrington prosecuted David Morris at Swansea Crown Court and Newport Crown Court for the murders of Mandy Power, her mother and two children at their home in Clydach during two trials in 2002 and 2006.

And in 2003, he succeeded in convicting Jeffrey Gafoor – the real killer of Cardiff's Lynette White – one of the most notorious Welsh murders in the 20th Century.

Mr Harrington is a keen rugby and cricket fan.

He is a member of both Ebbw Vale Rugby Football Club and Glamorgan County Cricket Club.