David Owusu-Yianoma

Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision

David Owusu-Yianoma, a barrister called to the Bar by Inner Temple in November 1992, faced disciplinary charges before a Disciplinary Tribunal (case ref PC2020/0824/D5) brought by the Bar Standards Board. The charges arose from his conduct as fresh appeal counsel, specifically his failure to comply with his obligations under R v McCook (e.g., failing to directly contact previous trial counsel/solicitors). He denied charges 1-4, admitted charges 5 and 6, and admitted charge 7 in part. On 11 May 2023 the Tribunal found charges 1, 3 and 7 proved on the balance of probabilities, concluding he was reckless. Charges 2, 4, 5 and 6 were not found proved (5 and 6 were alternatives). The Tribunal expressly did NOT find sufficient evidence to justify a finding of dishonesty. The Tribunal assessed the misconduct as significantly serious given culpability and harm, and unanimously ordered suspension (duration not stated in the available text). He was ordered to pay £5,000 in costs.

Duties found breached:

• Proper basis for allegations
• No conflict between current clients
• Good faith and courtesy to colleagues

Aggravating factors:

• Misconduct impacted a number of agencies
• Conduct impacted public confidence in the profession
• Culpability and harm factors made this significantly serious

Mitigating factors:

• Partial admissions in respect of recklessness (admitted charges 5 and 6, and charge 7 in part)
• Impact the professional misconduct had had on Mr Owusu-Yianoma
• Personal circumstances at the time of the commission of the offences