A Cardiff, Great Britain attorney, Kevin Stewart Farquharson, was convicted earlier this year for a 2019 sexual assault. He was sentenced to six months’ jail time, suspended for 18 months. But that is not the end of the consequences for the now former attorney.
The Bar Tribunals and Adjudication Service (BTAS) has disbarred Farquharson, not only due to the sexual assault, but for later asking his victim as well as a colleague to lie about what happened. As reported by Legal Cheek:
The Bar Tribunals and Adjudication Service (BTAS) found that Farquharson, who was called to the bar in 2011, sent a text message to his victim asking her to respond to a future message from him with a scripted response he had prepared. This prepared response was “not a truthful account” of the events on the day of the assault, according to the published finding.
The tribunal further found that Farquharson had subsequently sent a message to another barrister asking them to “lie about the events” at the time of the assault.
The BTAS found Farquharson’s actions were likely to diminish the trust and confidence which the public places in the profession. A spokesperson said:
“Mr Farquharson’s conduct of sexually assaulting another person and then making dishonest efforts to conceal it is clearly incompatible with the standards expected by the public from barristers. The tribunal’s decision to disbar him reflects this.”
The disbarment decision is subject to appeal.
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Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).