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.
When a report was made to the judge about D’Souza’s behaviour, he withdrew from the case, the jury was discharged and a new trial date was fixed.
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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.
