Drew St'Clair

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

Drew St'Clair, a barrister called in 2001, faced seven charges arising from his conduct at Willesden Magistrates Court on 10 November 2021. He abused his position as a CPS prosecutor by obtaining a vulnerable female defendant's (Person A, a domestic abuse victim) personal contact details and using them to pursue a romantic interest, contacting her by phone and WhatsApp, amounting to sexual harassment (Charges 1-5, admitted). He also offered no evidence in her case without seeking CPS instructions (Charges 6-7, admitted at hearing). The Tribunal categorised Charges 1-5 as misconduct of a sexual nature (Category B), middle seriousness, and imposed 26 months' suspension concurrent. Charges 6-7 fell in Category K lower range, resulting in a £1,000 total fine. No express finding of dishonesty was made, though the Tribunal noted the Respondent's false statement about having a clean record. Immediate suspension and £2,670 costs ordered.

Duties found breached:

• Integrity
• Uphold public trust in the profession
• No unlawful discrimination or harassment
• No conflict between current clients

Aggravating factors:

• Intentional misconduct
• Breach of a position of power or authority as prosecutor
• Significant impact on public confidence
• Previous disciplinary findings (though old and different, noted unwillingness to admit them)
• Lack of insight into professional boundaries
• Failure to self-report to the BSB
• High level of professional experience (called 2001)

Mitigating factors:

• Early admission to the CPS
• Genuine remorse
• Co-operation with the investigation
• Voluntary remedial steps (online course)
• Character references (limited weight)