Barry the barrister disbarred from the Bar after bad behaviour at the bar
A barrister has been disbarred after admitting to sexually harassing a woman at work social events.
Senior barrister Kevin Barry faced charges, brought by the Bar Standards Board, relating to two separate occasions in 2018 where he "sexually touched" a woman (referred to as Person A) without her consent.
In February 2018, at post-work drinks at the Rosewood Hotel bar in Holborn, Barry placed his hands on Person A's "upper thigh beneath her dress and edged it upwards towards her groin", and touched her hair whilst making comments about it "which were of a sexual nature, the BSB stated.
The regulator said that such touching was "intentional" and "sexually motivated", that Person A did not consent to it, and that he "did not reasonably believe" that she had consented.
The following month, at a Chambers silks party, Barry placed his hand on Person A's bottom, "where it remained for a couple of seconds". The "unwanted" touching violated the woman's dignity or created an "intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment" for her, stated the BSB.
Barry (who was called to the bar in 1997) "was in a position of seniority" and had "behaved in a way which was likely to diminish the trust and confidence which the public places in him or in the profession," said the regulator.
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Barry admitted all three charges, and was disbarred by the disciplinary tribunal (subject to appeal).
A spokesperson for the Bar Standards Board said: “We would like to thank the individual who came forward and we recognise the courage it takes to make reports about behaviour like this."
The regulator is "committed to ensuring that such behaviour is not tolerated at the Bar", said the spokesperson, and Barry’s actions "were serious and incompatible with membership of the Bar".
Barry also faced the disciplinary tribunal in 2019, when he was fined £3,000 for "unwanted sexual conduct". On that occasion, The Sun writers did their thing when it came to shoehorning a pun into the headline:
Albeit it was not quite the same calibre as this one (about another barrister):
Earlier this year, a report led by Harriet Harman KC, found that bullying, harassment and sexual harassment is an ongoing problem at the Bar.
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Comments
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No headlines referencing soliciting?
I'm disappointed.
Off topic, I reckon 3-Ducks saw Lloyd Grossman or more likely Guy Ritchie. It's well known that Ritchie admires Duxy's gravelly mockney and hyper-masculine working class demeanour.
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February 2018 - so nearly 6 years to deal with these allegations??
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James, I'm disappointed you thought The Sun's headlines needed to be included. They trivialise and demean what the article acknowledges is an ongoing problem at the Bar and what must be an incredibly challenging and upsetting event for the victims of such behaviour.
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Seven-and-a-half years??
(Genius at 08:54 thinks 2018 was six years ago)
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James, I'm disappointed you haven't thought to include law themed animated emojis, specifically one that is doing a very large eye-roll that can be used in response to overly censorious wets like @09:10. I, as an anonymous person on the internet, naturally feel well within my rights expressing my disappointment in you because you have not met my personal preferences.
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RIP the good old days...
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Pupillage was always a very hands on experience.
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Message just in from Lord Lester: “I like Kevin Barry!”
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@12.54 - although of course Lord Lester was completely cleared of all wrongdoing by the BSB
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The barrister has reportedly set up a new set of chambers - The 69 Group
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Anonymous 14 November 25 17:45: Lord Lester was not cleared by the BSB, which had no jurisdiction to interfere with the findings of the House of Lords that he had sexually harassed his victim and offered to procure her a peerage in exchange for sex.
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17.45: I am amazed that some people are still unaware of his exoneration. It's like flat-eartherism for middling legal professionals.
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Anonymous 14 November 25 17:45; Anonymous 16 November 25 12:59: I am amazed that some people still think Lord Lester was exonerated. It's like flat-eartherism for middling legal professionals.
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@[email protected] - but that is not true. You are unable to provide any evidence of him being found by the BSB to have committed any wrongdoing whatsoever. And the HoL didn't make the findings that you assert.
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@[email protected] - exactly. Cleared of all wrongdoing by the BSB.
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Anonymous 15 November 25 19:39: correct.
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It is the appalling behaviour of barristers such as Lord Lester and Kevin Barry which makes it so important that the Bar pays close attention to the Harman Report.
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I wasn’t aware of Anthony Lester’s case until now but the official record of Parliament, Hansard, confirms the findings made and voted on by the House:
https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2018-12-17/debates/E9E8AE1E-3CD4-4166-BCF9-0765260054A9/PrivilegesAndConductCommittee
“The Senior Deputy Speaker
The noble Lord said that there were six contemporaneous witnesses. We invite Members to read their accounts.
In her own words,
“on the basis of the strong and cogent evidence of the complainant and her witnesses”,
the commissioner found that Jasvinder Sanghera was a victim of sexual harassment and that Lord Lester was guilty of a grave abuse of power. The Committee for Privileges and Conduct reviewed and endorsed this view. We ask the House to do the same. I hope the House will now agree to this report.
Motion agreed.”
It also seems that Lester was not - contrary to a report by The Times, which was later corrected - cleared by the BSB, and the findings of sexual harassment and abuse of position made against him by the Lords remained in place:
https://www.thetimes.com/comment/the-times-view/article/corrections-and-clarifications-lqz3n72pw
“The headline to our article “Lord Lester cleared of peerage-for-sex claims” (News, last week) incorrectly suggested, when read alone, that Ms Jasvinder Sanghera’s complaint to the House of Lords about Lord Lester’s conduct may have been dismissed. The article reported on the outcome of an investigation into Lord Lester by the Bar Standards Board. The findings of an earlier House of Lords committee are unaffected by this ruling. We apologise for any distress caused.”
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@[email protected] - correct, Lord Lester was completely cleared of any wrongdoing by the BSB.
@[email protected] - the BSB disagree with you
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Exactly, cleared of all wrongdoing by the BSB.
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@[email protected] - you provide no evidence of a vote, merely the HoL acknowledging that the Committee say they hold a particular view. They don't say that they agree with that view, and the only vote on the matter, on 15th November 2018, voted by 101-78 that the process was unfair. There were no further votes.
And you have not been able to provide evidence of the BSB finding Lord Lester guilty of any wrongdoing whatsoever. Legal Cheek is the publication of record in such matters, and it stated on 19th August 2019 that he was cleared by the BSB, as did The Times on 18th August 2019.
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Lord “Mo” Lester.
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“Legal Cheek is the publication of record in such matters” - u ok hun
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@ Anonymous 18 November 25 14:42 - thanks for digging out these references as they show beyond doubt that the Lords voted to approve the findings that Lester was guilty of sexual harassment and abuse of position, and that the decision of the BSB did not interfere with those findings.
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I think by now everybody knows that Lord Lester was cleared of all wrongdoing by the BSB.