Kevin Farquharson

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

Barrister Kevin Farquharson faced three charges of professional misconduct. Charge 1 concerned his conviction for sexual assault (s.3 Sexual Offences Act 2003) against a junior colleague, for which he received a 6-month suspended sentence. Charges 2 and 3 concerned him asking the victim (A) and another barrister (Z) to give false/untruthful accounts to cover events from his partner. All three charges were found proved by a 4-1 majority. The Tribunal rejected his argument that his behaviour was caused by his medical condition, finding it was the direct result of excessive alcohol consumption. It expressly found 'a lack of integrity and an element of dishonesty' regarding Charges 2 and 3. Treating the conviction as a serious sexual offence with a starting point of disbarment, and finding no exceptional reasons for a lesser sanction despite substantial mitigation, the Tribunal disbarred him on each charge and ordered him to pay BSB costs of £2,100 within 28 days.

Duties found breached:

• No improper communication with the court
• Uphold public trust in the profession
• Non-discriminatory acceptance and cab-rank

Aggravating factors:

• Prolonged and serious sexual offending, persisting despite the victim's repeated requests to stop
• Took advantage of a professional relationship with a much younger, junior barrister
• Distressing and far-reaching consequences for the victim
• Sought to use two fellow barristers to construct a false narrative while aware of police involvement

Mitigating factors:

• Genuine and immediate remorse
• Previously clean record / good character
• Self-reported to the BSB and fully co-operated with police, chambers and BSB investigations
• Extensive treatment for Complex-PTSD and Reactive Attachment Disorder (over 100 sessions, largely self-funded)
• Ceased drinking alcohol immediately after the incident and remained teetotal
• Probation assessment that he poses no particular risk to the public
• Numerous positive character references
• Significant personal, financial and family consequences already suffered