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The SRA has become the laughing stock of the legal profession.

Yup, rules are rules. And then there's common sense, tact and diplomacy.

There is no point in havng a regulatory body that is incapable of taking into account the circumstances around any particular issue or individual.

Mr Lewis is a physically unwell man who has faced years of incessant Jew hatred. His complainants were those sympthetic to the neo-Nazis who had abused him. The SRA has sided with racists rather than protect someone who rightly expected more from his profession's authorities.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist, or even a lawyer, to see what a common sense decision would be: tell Mark off, slap him on the wrist, take on board the extenuating circumstances and explain that any future misconduct will bring him into disrepute. It would have taken 30 minutes and not cost £10,000 in costs.

This decision is a disgrace. And hundreds of lawyers should be writing to the SRA to express their disgust and to state that they will be withholding their yearly fees until the decision is rescinded.