A barrister jailed for pleading guilty to 37 charges related to sexual abuse has been disbarred.

The Bar Tribunals & Adjudication Service (BTAS) said yesterday that John Guess should be removed from the profession following his conviction last year. Guess, according to the BTAS, sexually abused a child, recorded and distributed images of the abuse, and possessed thousands of indecent images categorised as ‘extreme pornography’.

The lawyer, called to the bar by Middle Temple in 2000, was jailed in August last year for 20 years at Cardiff Crown Court. He previously worked as a lawyer for the Welsh government.

Guess also incited a girl under the age of 18 to expose herself to him and send photographs to him. He was also found to possess indecent ‘Category A’ images (considered the most severe), 1,000 images in ‘Category B’ and 10,000 in Category C as well as multiple videos.

The offences took place between 2015 and 2018.

Sara Jagger, director of professional conduct at the Bar Standards Board which brought misconduct charges against Guess, said: ‘Clearly a conviction for serious sexual offences is incompatible with continued membership of the Bar. The tribunal’s decision that he should be disbarred reflects this’.