The Legal Practice Council wants to suspend attorney Darren Sampson, who suffers with bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety
The Legal Practice Council (LPC) wants the high court in Pretoria to suspend a depressed and anxious former senior assistant state attorney for swearing at a judge 16 times.
The court is scheduled to hear the LPC’s application on Tuesday.
The incident took place during an online court case on September 16 2020 and was widely covered by the media. The attorney, Darren Sampson, has severe anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder.
He apologised to judge Tasneem Moosa the next day, explaining in a letter that he suffers from a “mental condition”. He wrote that he had been suicidal on a number of occasions, was off his medication when the incident took place, suffered from hallucinations and depressive episodes, and had “great difficulty” controlling his utterances.
Papers filed in court on January 22 by the LPC show that within two days of the incident, a chairperson appointed by the LPC had already investigated it, found “prima facie evidence that attorney Darren Sampson may be guilty of serious misconduct” and recommended that the LPC council apply to the high court to have Sampson suspended from practising law.
