Sex attack barrister disbarred

A BARRISTER who groped a woman’s breasts on a night out in Bristol has been kicked out of the profession.

Kevin Stewart Farquharson, 45, was ordered to be disbarred by an independent disciplinary tribunal, which concluded on October 21, following charges of professional misconduct brought by the Bar Standards Board (BSB).

The tribunal’s decision follows Mr Farquharson being convicted at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court on March 18 for a sexual assault which took place in September 2019 for which he was sentenced to six months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months.

The tribunal heard Farquharson had been out for dinner and drinks before moving on to Kongs Bar in King Street.

After groping a young woman’s breasts he accosted her on the dance floor and touched her bottom and breasts on several occasions, the tribunal heard.

Farquharson then ignored her pleas for him to stop, including her loudly telling him he was sexually assaulting her. The panel heard at one point Farquharson pinned her arms to her side and demanded that she kiss him.

A bartender eventually advised her to take shelter in the toilets as the bouncers removed the lawyer.

Despite her ordeal, the woman declined the bar staff’s offers to get police involved.

The tribunal found Farquharson sent a text message to his victim asking her to respond to a future text from him with a scripted message he had prepared which was not a truthful account of the events on the day of the assault.

It also found Farquharson had sent a message to another barrister asking them to lie about events at the time of the assault.

The tribunal found Farquharson engaged in conduct which was likely to diminish the trust and confidence which the public places in him or in the profession, and had acted in a way which could reasonably be seen by the public to undermine his integrity.