Barrister disbarred following sexual assault conviction

A barrister of 10 years’ call was disbarred by an independent disciplinary tribunal concluded yesterday (21 October 2021) after charges of professional misconduct were brought by the Bar Standards Board (BSB).

Kevin Stewart Farquharson was called to the Bar of England and Wales by Middle Temple in October 2011. 

On 18 March 2021, Cardiff magistrates’ court convicted Farquharson of a sexual assault which took place on 28 September 2019. He was sentenced to six-months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months.

The tribunal found Farquharson had contacted the assault victim by text and asked her to respond to a future text from him with a message pre-prepared by him, which was not a truthful account of the assault. It also found Farquharson had asked another barrister to lie about events surrounding the assault.

The tribunal found Farquharson had engaged in conduct 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.

A BSB 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 decision is open to appeal.