A leading criminal law solicitor convicted of sexually assaulting an 18-year-old woman while drunk in Newcastle city centre on New Year’s Eve has been fined by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT).
The tribunal accepted that Ravi Khosla’s actions were an “isolated incident” in respect of which he had shown “significant insight, remorse and apology”.
It said the fact that he “absented himself from the family home” to allow his family to decide how they wanted to move forward – they have since reconciled – and also resigned as a director of Newcastle firm Kenneth M Barrow & Co, “was greatly to his credit”.
But the SDT acknowledged too that the harm caused to the woman, ‘Person A’, was “substantial”.
Mr Khosla was waiting at a taxi rank in the early hours of 31 December 2017. He admitted he was drunk.
He had a short conversation with Person A, whose witness statement recounted that he “put his hand around my hips, placed it on my bottom cheek where he then squeezed hard then pulled me forcefully towards him.
“He had his other hand on my right cheek which he used to pull my face towards him. He then forcefully pushed his face into mine and kissed me. He was trying to kiss me with an open mouth but I was keeping my mouth closed and trying to push him away. I told him ‘no’.”
Person A said she had felt “dirty and shocked” and scared by Mr Khosla’s persistence.
“I have only just turned 18 and this was one of my first nights out. This isn’t what I thought a night out would be like as I have always felt safe previously. This will make me much more vigilant and wary on future nights out.”
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