Leading criminal barrister guilty of sexual misconduct charges

A top criminal barrister has been found guilty of three charges of sexual misconduct against a young female barrister., a Tribunal has ruled.

Navjot ‘Jo’ Sidhu KC, the former chair of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) was accused of misconduct relating to inappropriate behaviour with young women.

Sidhu, who made headline news during the barrister strikes, originally faced 28 charges but successfully applied to have 18 dismissed at an earlier hearing.

A seven-day hearing took place in November where a Bar Standards Board (BSB) disciplinary Tribunal heard ten charges related to allegations made by two young barristers, including a barrister on work experience (mini-pupillage).

Sidhu denied all the charges, saying the relationships were consensual, and not linked to his professional role.

On Monday, the disciplinary Tribunal gave an oral judgment, where it found three charges of sexual misconduct towards the woman on mini-pupillage to be proven.

This included inviting the her to his hotel room while outside London for a trial and initiating sexual contact with her, which was deemed to be inappropriate.

The other seven charges regarding the same woman and another young woman were dismissed.

A full written judgment on the Tribinal decision will follow, along with a sanctions hearing to be listed.

In the meantime, the Tribunal made an interim order which prevents Sidhu KC from being issued with a practising certificate.

In a statement to The Times, Sidhu’s lawyer, Nick Brett of Brett Wilson, said that most of the case brought by the profession’s regulator the BSB, “has failed”.

He added that Sidhu “will consider whether to appeal against those limited findings on proper analysis of the judgment in due course”.

Commenting on the findings, Sam Townend KC, Chair of the Bar Council stated that “serious and inappropriate professional misconduct of a sexual nature was made out against Jo Sidhu KC”, adding that this “type of behaviour described by the Tribunal is completely unacceptable at the Bar.”

“Even though the Tribunal found some aspects did not constitute professional misconduct, they found the behaviours to be reprehensible. All three complainants were believed by the Tribunal.”

Townend KC added that “unfortunately, this case has taken two years from initial complaints to resolution – too long a time for everyone involved in such a serious case.”

“I call on the Bar Standards Board to focus their efforts on efficient and timely enforcement. Any lessons that can be learned will feed into the ongoing independent review of bullying and harassment at the Bar, led by Baroness Harman KC,” he added.