Barrister disbarred after false homophobia claims

A BARRISTER who championed LGBT+ charity Stonewall has been disbarred after making false homophobia claims.

Barry John Harwood was found to have knowingly misled the Bar Standards Board (BSB) after fabricating parts of “serious” allegations against fellow barristers.

Mr Harwood, who was the deputy director of advocacy at City law firm DWF, complained about a colleague’s behaviour towards him in March 2019.

The barrister alleged his colleague intentionally referred to his romantic partner as “husband” in emails, despite knowing they were in a civil partnership and not married. Mr Harwood alleged this amounted to homophobia.

However, the BSB found Mr Harwood had in fact referred to his partner as “husband” and the two of them as “married” in previous Whatsapp messages with the accused.

Mr Harwood also claimed the same barrister had bullied another colleague by employing a racist nickname. He alleged that a female staffer they both worked with, whose last name is Wong, complained to Mr Harwood directly that the barrister had nicknamed her “Legally Wongers”.

However, the tribunal found Ms Wong never raised any such concerns with Mr Harwood, who was disbarred by an independent disciplinary tribunal last week and told to pay £5,500 in costs.

The barrister watchdog said Mr Harwood failed to act with honesty and integrity, behaving in a way likely to diminish trust and confidence in the legal profession.

Mr Harwood is a long standing advocate of LGBT+ rights with campaign group Stonewall and was named the North West senior champion of the year at the charity’s regional awards in 2018.

He also co-chaired DWF’S LGBT+ employee network, Outfront. Mr Harwood left the law firm in April 2019.

A former police officer and university law lecturer, Mr Harwood retired as a barrister in 2021 after 25 years, according to his Linkedin profile.

He currently serves as the chief legal officer at Sterling Boulevard, a real estate agent based in Dubai.

A BSB spokesman said: “Dishonestly and deliberately making false allegations to a regulator, especially in relation to serious matters such as discrimination and harassment, is wholly incompatible with membership of the Bar and the tribunal’s decision to disbar Mr Harwood reflects this.”

Mr Harwood was contacted for comment. DWF declined to comment.