A magistrate has been issued with a formal warning for misconduct after he made inappropriate comments to colleagues.
Stephen Clements JP was found to have made ‘disparaging comments’ in June last year to his colleagues in the retiring room, criticising the effectiveness of rehabilitation policies relating to sex and drug offenders.
An investigation was carried out by the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JICO) and a conduct panel found the magistrate’s behaviour was ‘not in keeping with the key qualities expected of a magistrate’.
A spokesperson for the JCIO said: ‘The panel found that Mr Clements was unprofessional and he failed to show self-awareness. The panel recommended a sanction of a formal warning. Mr Justice Keehan and the lord chancellor agreed.’
