Law Society Gazette
High profile criminal barrister Jo Sidhu KC was today disbarred by a disciplinary tribunal after being found guilty of sexual misconduct. The sanction followed a tribunal hearing at which found the former chair of the Criminal Bar Association guilty of inappropriate behaviour for inviting a young woman to stay overnight in his hotel room during a mini pupillage.
Sidhu was cleared of the majority of misconduct charges against him relating to inappropriate behaviour with three women who were either law students or undergoing mini pupillage at the time of the alleged incidents. Of the 15 charges, five were struck out after the tribunal found there was no case to answer and three, in relation to Person 2 who was undertaking a mini-pupillage placement, were found proved.
Sidhu, who appeared remotely via video link today, spoke only to say good morning to the panel and confirm he could hear and see proceedings.
In written submissions on sanction, Fiona Horlick KC for the Bar Standards Board said: ‘The serious sexual misconduct in this case was overwhelmingly likely to have caused long term harm and it would have been foreseeable to any reasonable person.
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‘This case, serious sexual misconduct involving a very senior and well-known male silk committed against a young, vulnerable mini pupil where he abused his professional position and abused the trust she had him, must be marked by the most serious of sanctions. There is no other sanction that would adequately mark the seriousness of the proven misconduct nor would any lesser sanction act as a deterrent or encourage reporting or restore public trust and confidence in the bar or assist diversity, recruitment and retention at the bar.
‘Any sanction other than disbarment would send a signal that this type of misconduct could be consistent with a continued career at the bar for the barrister involved and that victims of sexual misconduct are not protected.’