Jonathan French

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

Mr Jonathan French, a barrister, pleaded guilty in the Crown Court to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, common assault and criminal damage arising from an incident on 27 March 2023. He self-reported and initially admitted breaching Core Duty 5, but later contested the charge arguing his conduct was an uncontrollable 'autistic meltdown.' The Tribunal, by a 4-1 majority, found the charge proven on the balance of probabilities, relying on psychiatric evidence that although autism significantly contributed, he did not lose total control throughout. Given extensive mitigation including his autism diagnosis, remorse and early self-report, the Tribunal imposed a reprimand and ordered costs of £7,916.20-£8,266.20 to the BSB. No finding of dishonesty was made.the costs amount was stated as a range with exact amount to be confirmed.

Duties found breached:

• Uphold public trust in the profession

Aggravating factors:

• Conduct resulted in criminal convictions
• Previous disciplinary finding for similar behaviour
• Sustained use of violence against two individuals

Mitigating factors:

• Isolated incident in difficult/unusual circumstances
• Early admission and prompt self-report
• Genuine remorse
• Cooperated with the investigation
• Took steps to prevent recurrence
• Diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorder which significantly contributed to the events