Press Release
22 Oct 2021 (updated 13 May 2022)
Barrister Kevin Stewart Farquharson was ordered to be suspended for two years with two further suspensions of four months and two months concurrently by the High Court on 13 May 2022. Following an appeal, this sanction replaces the sanction of disbarment which had been imposed by an independent disciplinary tribunal on 21 October 2021 following charges of professional misconduct brought by the Bar Standards Board (BSB).
Mr Farquharson was convicted at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court on 18 March 2021 of a sexual assault which took place on 28 September 2019 for which he was sentenced to six-months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months.
The tribunal found that Mr Farquharson had also sent a text message to his victim asking her to respond to a future text from him with a scripted message he had prepared which was not a truthful account of the events on the day of the assault. It also found that Mr Farquharson had sent a message to another barrister asking them to lie about events at the time of the assault.
The tribunal found that Mr Farquharson had engaged in conduct which was likely to diminish the trust and confidence which the public places in him or in the profession, and had acted in a way which could reasonably be seen by the public to undermine his integrity.
ENDS
Notes to editors
About Kevin Farquharson
Kevin Stewart Farquharson was called to the Bar of England and Wales by Middle Temple in October 2011.
About disciplinary tribunals
The appointment, operation, and decisions (including sentencing) of disciplinary tribunal panels are performed by the Bar Tribunals and Adjudication Service (BTAS). BTAS is run independently of the Bar Standards Board, the barristers' regulator. The BSB is responsible for bringing charges of professional misconduct against barristers, which BTAS tribunal panels then adjudicate. The sanctions imposed are a matter for the tribunal having regard to the facts of the individual case and the BTAS Sanctions Guidance.
About the Bar Standards Board
Our mission is to regulate barristers and specialised legal services businesses in England and Wales in the public interest. For more information about what we do visit: http://bit.ly/1gwui8t
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