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Bruce McQuillan seems to have brought this outrageous discussion board down to a sensible reality. The judge was at fault; it should have been a private discussion. It raises the question of why he did it in public. The answer speaks volumes about the exposed position of solicitor advocates before judges who are predominantly barristers. Something like this can blight a persons reputation and livelihood. A rule change to prevent this sort of judicial conduct is I believe very necessary.

My second observation is about the unprofessional nature of some of the comments on this discussion board. It has been said that a colleague has been appearing in court when he is not a solicitor. His SRA ID is 342003. His entry shows that he is an all courts higher courts advocate in the same way as any barrister yet it has been said that referring to himself as Counsel is a misrepresentation. I don't know whether he did or not but whatever the case he is entitled to do so. He is by all accounts a good advocate yet people have said here that a retrial will be necessary. He has been referred to as a clown and more. I'm surprised that the Gazette has allowed such comments to remain. Certainly the comments ought to be looked at as breaches of the Code of Conduct and reported as such.

For the avoidance of doubt I should declare that I have never met Alan Blacker but I am a fellow advocate.