A ‘haunted’ barrister will be allowed to return to the bar after causing the death of a pensioner by dangerous driving. Hamish Hickey, called in 2008, was driving his Volvo XC40 down a narrow country lane near the village of Ampleforth, North Yorkshire, on 26 July 2022 when he was in collision with a vehicle being driven by Michael Lupton, an 84-year-old local man who died in hospital the following month.
Hickey, a self-employed barrister practising at the family bar, had been driving in the middle of the country lane, at a speed that, while within the 60mph limit, was ‘inappropriately fast for the prevailing road conditions’ and was mounting a blind summit at the point of the collision, the bar tribunal heard.
Hickey, who had previous convictions for speeding, admitted causing death by dangerous driving and on 1 November 2024 was jailed for 23 months at York Crown Court.
But the tribunal heard how the sentencing judge Sean Morris, the recorder of York, had written to the Bar Standards Board to share his view that Hickey should not be disbarred as a result of the conviction. The judge had pointed to Hickey’s impeccable character outside of his driving, his genuine remorse and said he was a ‘valuable member of the profession’.
Marc Beaumont, representing Hickey at the tribunal, said the barrister had 23 letters of referral from two Crown court judges, leading and junior counsel, chambers staff and solicitors, speaking positively of his character. ‘Solicitors speak to Mr Hickey’s reliability, sensitivity and respect for vulnerable clients’, Beaumont said. 'This case concerns a single moment of tragic misjudgment by a junior barrister of previously exemplary character’, Beaumont added. ‘Mr Hickey is profoundly remorseful, having already endured the most devastating personal and professional consequences.
‘The late Mr Lupton’s death was a terrible tragedy but it was the result of a brief lapse, an error which could, in truth, have been made by any otherwise or usually competent driver on a narrow road.’
Arguing against Hickey being disbarred, Beaumont contended: ‘Public confidence would not be damaged but rather reinforced by this tribunal exercising clemency and emphasising the critical distinction between wilful misconduct and human error. He is haunted by the memory of the accident and the knowledge of the irreparable loss he caused.’
Hickey, in a statement read out to the tribunal, said: ‘I do not feel I will ever have any peace from the pain I know I have caused his family. I wanted to erase every trace of my shameful existence.’ He added: ‘I see his face every day and will do until the end of my days.’
Delivering the tribunal’s judgment, Judge Nicholas Ainley said Hickey would remain suspended from practice until 30th September next year, at which time his licence would expire. But he said the tribunal ‘does not consider it necessary that any sentence beyond the period of the expiration is necessary, certainly disbarment is not necessary, stating the offence was ‘not a crime of wickedness or dishonesty’. Hickey burst into tears as the tribunal revealed he would not be disbarred.'
