A barrister who was suspended from practice after he accidentally caused the death of a pensioner by dangerous driving can return to work after the High Court allowed his appeal against his suspension.
Hamish Hickey, called in 2008, admitted causing death by dangerous driving and was sentenced to 23 months imprisonment in November 2024. Following his release on licence, in August 2025, the Bar Tribunals & Adjudication Service imposed an 11-month suspension.
Hickey, now 42, appealed the sanction arguing it was 'clearly inappropriate' and that the tribunal did not provide adequate reasons for its decision.
In written submissions to the High Court, Marc Beaumont, for Hickey, said: ‘Nothing said in this appeal on behalf of Mr Hickey is intended to place in doubt his permanent sense of devastation at Mr Lupton’s death, nor should it be construed by the family, the court, the tribunal or the BSB, as diminishing that catastrophe in any way whatsoever. [Hickey] has served his time in prison for his bad driving. This appeal concerns Hickey’s desire to resume the job he loves, nothing more.’
Philip Stott, for the Bar Standards Board, said the sanction ’is within the range of just and reasonable responses’.
Allowing the appeal, Mrs Justice Dias said: ‘This is a tragic case for everybody.’ The tribunal’s decision 'leaves much to be desired', she added. 'They provided no explanation of mitigating or aggravating factors it had taken into account [or] of how those factors affected its decision. It made no reference to having to consider Mr Hickey could be considered to have “satisfactory completed” his sentence.
‘The public expects high standards of barristers but that is in relation to their professional life and competence. The general public has no legitimate expectation that barristers have higher driving standards than anybody else.’
Permitting Hickey to return to practise, the judge said the appeal ‘succeeds on each and all of the grounds’. She chose not to remit Hickey’s case back to the tribunal and said a fine ‘would not be fair or proportionate’.
Costs are to be subject to a detailed assessment with an interim payment of £16,000 to be made by the Bar Standards Board.
