Soft ban for barrister who butted a female colleague
A TOP barrister who headbutted a female lawyer in a drunken rage has avoided being struck off.
Rashid Ahmed was given just a three-month suspension for the attack that left his junior colleague “on the pavement, on her back, with blood all over her face”.
The London-based immigration law specialist had to be restrained by passers-by in Chelsea’s King’s Road, west London, and was seen clenching his fists.
Ahmed, 40, a deputy head of chambers, was convicted over the assault at Westminster magistrates court in April 2018.
A disciplinary tribunal ruled he had undermined public confidence but he was “not a risk to the public” and had “shown insight”.
The Bar Tribunals and Adjudication Service heard how violence erupted between Ahmed and his unnamed victim after the pair had been out for a meal and talking about finances.
The lawyer had thrown water and also an ashtray before he was seen “to grab her, shake her, push her up against a pillar between two of the shop windows”.
Ahmed then tried “one headbutt that missed”, and “a second headbutt to her face”.
With this, he made contact “just above her nose, close to the eye”.
A member of the public was still holding him back when the police arrived. He was handcuffed after a short struggle and spent 48 hours in a police cell.
Ahmed admitted to the tribunal a single charge of professional misconduct, behaving in a way that was likely to diminish public trust in his profession.
Chairman Paul Ozin, QC, said: “While we accept that this was a single incident that was the result of particular circumstances, we note that it occurred over an extended period of time in the early evening and that its context was a continuing episode, starting with an alcohol-fuelled argument over lunch.”
Ahmed, who was called to the Bar in 2003, had been initially given a suspended jail term after he admitted assault.
That sentence, following an appeal, was reduced to a 12-month community order with a requirement to carry out rehabilitation activity for 35 days and 180 hours of unpaid work.
An appeal judge cited Ahmed’s “exemplary character” and “genuine
remorse”. Yet critics claim that the suspension is further evidence of regulators showing leniency towards the legal profession.
Another lawyer Stephen Joseph Sweeney, who was called to the Bar in 2001, received a four-month suspension last month after being convicted of assault in March 2018 by beating a woman.
But the Bar Standards Board denied that the tribunal’s latest decision was too lenient.
A spokesman said: “Being convicted of any form of assault is a serious matter for barristers and the tribunal’s decision to suspend Mr Ahmed from practice reflects this.”