A barrister who drank alcohol during a break in a criminal trial has been fined £3,000 by the Bar Tribunals & Adjudication Service.
Dominic Charles D’Souza, called to the bar in November 1993, was representing a client at Snaresbrook Crown Court in March 2023. During a break, shortly before the trial resumed, D’Souza consumed alcohol while seated in his car in the court car park. What he drank was not disclosed.
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D’Souza admitted all three charges against him. He was found by the three-person panel to have behaved in way which was likely to diminish the trust and confidence the public places in him or in the profession and/or behaved in a way which foreseeably interfered with the administration of justice and/or wasted the time of the court.
He was fined £1,000 on each charge and ordered to pay £2,670 costs.
The tribunal’s findings and its sanction are open to appeal.
An earlier version of this article implied that D’Souza’s drinking caused a trial to collapse. The written judgment now available clarifies that the trial was halted following his withdrawal, which was prompted by more serious allegations made against him that were later found to be false.
