Peter Gray

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

Peter Matthew James Gray, an unregistered barrister formerly practising as a solicitor, faced seven charges arising from his conduct in the Djibouti v Boreh litigation, all based on findings of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (which struck him off the Roll on 5 May 2021) and the judgments of Flaux J and Linden J. The Bar Disciplinary Tribunal, applying rE169 as an evidential rule, found the Respondent had not proved the SDT findings were inaccurate. Proceeding in his absence, it found all seven charges proved to the criminal standard and made an express finding that he acted in a sustained and deliberate dishonest manner (swearing misleading affidavits, allowing the court to be misled and sending misleading correspondence concerning a critical phone-call dating error undermining a terrorism conviction). Finding no exceptional circumstances, the Tribunal ordered disbarment and costs of £24,654 payable to the BSB.

Duties found breached:

• Good faith and courtesy to colleagues
• No baseless or threatened misconduct report
• Overriding duty to the court

Aggravating factors:

• Dishonesty was sustained over a period of time rather than a fleeting lapse
• Conduct was calculated, sophisticated and involved significant planning
• The court was seriously misled and the freezing order obtained
• Significant harm caused to Mr Boreh, whose assets were frozen and whose criminal conviction was rendered unsafe

Mitigating factors:

• No previous disciplinary history / previous good conduct
• Strong character references attesting to integrity, conscientiousness and good reputation
• Significant strain and anxiety suffered from the proceedings and delay (supported by clinical psychologist's report)
• Respondent indicated he did not wish to practise at the Bar and offered an undertaking not to apply for a practising certificate