A magistrate would have been removed from office over ‘intemperate and inappropriate’. communications had she not quit first, the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office has ruled.
Lesley Pickup's ‘written communications’ led to two complaints. The first related to a letter to a former employer referring to Pickup’s views on the use of single-sex spaces. The complaint alleged the contents of the letter ‘could impact on public confidence in judicial impartiality’.
The second complaint related to a written comment by Pickup about a member of court staff who she wrote ‘did not understand the British sense of humour’. The comment was alleged to be ‘intemperate and inappropriate’.
Pickup said she was unaware that her resignation letter would be published online and ‘rejected the allegations made in relation to her communications’, a spokesperson for the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office said.
An investigation found Pickup was ‘not sufficiently circumspect in her conduct in allowing her letter to enter the public domain’. She was found to be ‘reckless as to the potential risk this may pose to the dignity, standing and good reputation of the magistracy’. The comment about the staff member was found to ‘not align with core magisterial attributes of communication with sensitivity, respect and professionalism’.
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A disciplinary panel found Pickup ‘risked her letter entering the public domain and creating a perception of bias’.
Her conduct showed ‘little awareness of the standards expected of a magistrate in relation to social media and the sharing of personal views publicly on contentious matters, and showed no awareness around the risk of perceived bias in her role as a magistrate’.
Considering the second complaint, the panel found Pickup 'showed a lack of awareness regarding intemperate language and how her comment may be perceived as racially insensitive’.
Pickup’s conduct, which was found to amount to gross misconduct, was aggravated by a previous disciplinary sanction in 2022 for disruptive behaviour during an online training course and ‘improper tone’ in post-course feedback. Pickup was also sanctioned in 2016 for ‘intemperate behaviour’. The panel said Pickup’s previous sanctions showed ‘a pattern of behaviour and a failure to learn from earlier interventions’.
Had Pickup not resigned before the conclusion of the investigation, the lady chief justice and lord chancellor concluded they would have removed her from office for gross misconduct.
