Ex-Pinsent Masons associate may face jail for punching a trainee
03 August 2012
A former Pinsent Masons associate has pleaded guilty to actual bodily harm after assaulting a trainee colleague.

It was after a Pinsents office party that Edward Lowdell, a 2PQE associate, finished up throwing punches at trainee Ross Knight. Knight was knocked unconscious and ended up in hospital, and Lowdell was charged with ABH. However, he initially denied any wrongdoing and claimed he had acted in self defence after Knight had shouted "I'm going to bash you up".

An office party - how it should look

But CCTV footage shown to Blackfriars Crown Court this week seemed to tell a different story. The prosecution claimed that Lowdell put Knight in a headlock, pushed him into a shop doorway and punched him repeatedly, knocking him to the ground twice. And the policewoman who attended the scene claimed that Lowdell had smelt strongly of booze and had been "evasive", according to a Daily Mail report. "He thought he was cleverer than me", she told the court.

Lowdell resigned from Pinsent Masons before the conclusion of a disciplinary investigation into the incident. While he managed to bag a job offer from BLP, it seems that was subsequently withdrawn.

A spokesman for Pinsent Masons said "A thorough internal investigation into the matter was conducted at the time, and subsequently both staff members left the firm".