A district judge in the magistrates’ court has been issued with formal advice for misconduct after he made an ‘inappropriate’ comment about a defendant which was ‘perceived…as racially pejorative’.
Leo Pyle made a comment during a hearing when addressing a defendant with a dark skin tone. He told the defendant: 'Why would you need to carry a machete in the town centre unless you are a sugar plantation owner', a spokesperson for the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office said.
A complaint was made to the JCIO. The complainant said the comment was ‘inappropriate, citing concerns about the connotations associated with references to “plantation” in relation to Black individuals’.
The JCIO said: ‘The guide to judicial conduct states that judicial office holders should seek to be courteous, patient, tolerant and punctual and should respect the dignity of all. It also highlights that judges should ensure that no one in court is exposed to any display of bias or prejudice from any source.
‘The statement of expected behaviour reminds judicial office holders they have a responsibility to help foster a positive working environment, where diversity is recognised and valued, and everyone is treated with dignity and respect.’
Pyle, who had a ‘long service with excellent working relationships with court users’, apologised for his comment and in representations to the JCIO said he ‘did not mean to display an overt or unconscious bias’.
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The JCIO said: ‘DJMC Pyle explained that the remark was in the form of a rhetorical question to stress that the only place to carry a machete was on a sugar plantation and not the streets of Sheffield. It was said to emphasise how serious and dangerous it was to be in possession of such an article.’
An investigation found that Pyle, in making the comment, did not consider the inappropriateness of the remark but ‘had made the comment to add emphasis to his determination of the matter before him’.
The comment was described as ill-judged and contrary to judicial training on avoiding language ‘that moves beyond the facts of any case’. The investigation found the comment was ‘not respectful of the defendant of their appearance and that it was perceived by others as racially pejorative’. Pyle’s conduct was determined to fall below the ‘high standards expected of the judiciary’.
The lady chief justice, with the lord chancellor’s agreement, issued Pyle with formal advice for misconduct – the least severe sanction for misconduct by judicial office-holders.
