Barrister defending ‘Starmer fire-bomber' fined for drinking during a trial
Dominic Charles D'Souza had a daytime drink in the car park of Snaresbrook Crown Court in east London in March 2023.
The trial collapsed when his tipple was discovered by the judge, who discharged the jury.
Mr D'Souza has now been fined £3,000 by the Bar Standards Board (BSB) for 'professional misconduct'.
A tribunal heard last month that the barrister, who is head of crime at London's Goldsmith Chambers, was representing a client in a criminal trial on March 23.
During the lunch break, Mr D'Souza went to his car and drank brandy while sitting in the driver's seat.
He was filmed by the driver of a van parked next to him, who then made a complaint to the judge.
'The film shows [Mr D'Souza] to take two short drinks from a bottle of spirits,' a BSB tribunal found.
Mr D'Souza initially denied that he had been drinking brandy and told the BSB he 'was drinking Kombucha from a brandy bottle'.
But he later admitted drinking brandy, saying he 'was ill and... that he took drink to calm his stomach'.
The tribunal's report reads: 'When a report of this behaviour was made to the judge, Mr D'Souza withdrew from the case, the jury was discharged, and a new date was fixed for the criminal trial.'
The panel concluded that the barrister had 'behaved in a way which was likely to diminish the trust and confidence which the public places in him or in the profession'.
It found that he had also 'behaved in a way which foreseeably interfered with the administration of justice' and 'wasted the time of the court'.
'It is difficult to conceive of a situation more likely to cause public disquiet than a barrister engaged in a trial sitting in the driver's seat of a car in the Crown Court car park drinking directly from a bottle of spirits,' the panel ruled.
'However, we bear in mind that [Mr D'Souza] believed himself to be acting unobserved in private, that he drank very little, and that he did so misguidedly in circumstances when he was unwell.'
It added: 'There is no suggestion that [Mr D'Souza] was drunk before or after the event; in fact the evidence suggests he had performed effectively in Court.'
Mr D'Souza, who was called to the bar in 1993, admitted three disciplinary charges brought against him by the Bar Tribunals & Adjudication Service (BTAS).
He was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,670.
Mr D'Souza is one of Britain's most prominent defence barristers and is said to achieve 'spectacular results for clients', according to his Goldsmith Chambers biography.
'Dominic is an exceptionally charismatic jury advocate and over his 25 years at the Bar has become well known for his powerful cross examinations and dramatic closing speeches,' it reads.
He has been instructed to defend one of the men charged in connection with arson attacks on properties owned by the Prime Minister earlier this year.
The barrister was previously in hot water in 2021 after he posted a photo from inside his electric Tesla car that appeared to show he was travelling at 59mph.
He denied that he was driving when the photo was taken, saying he was 'parked in a service station'.
Using a mobile phone while driving is a criminal offence punishable by a £200 fine and six points on a licence. However, no further action was taken against D'Souza.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
25 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Steve Coogan says working class are being 'ethnically cleansed' as redevelopment of northern cities does not benefit blue-collar workers
Steve Coogan has suggested that working class people are being 'ethnically cleansed' amid the redevelopment of northern cities. The Alan Partridge actor, 59, argued that investment in sophisticated skyscrapers did not benefit blue-collar workers. After backing the Greens at the last election, Mr Coogan appeared on BBC Breakfast on Friday to endorse the co-operative movement, which encourages businesses to share its profits among its employees. He said: 'The problem with all these cities like Liverpool and Manchester is they've got all these big shiny buildings, but all the people who are disenfranchised have been ethnically cleansed from the area. They don't actually benefit. 'What the co-operative movement does is tries to keep that money in the area and empower people and try to mitigate and push back against the effects of big business.' Mr Coogan also hit out at Nigel Farage 's Reform party for peddling 'racist rhetoric'. 'If the Government want to stop Reform making all these gains, instead of dealing with the symptoms of the problem by leaning into the racist rhetoric of Reform, they can deal with that by helping working people and the best way of doing that is to support the Co-operative movement,' he added. The comedian, who backed Labour under Jeremy Corbyn in both 2017 and 2019, criticised the political fabric of the UK, accusing governments of prioritising the wealthiest members of society. He claimed the co-operative movement aims to shift the focus towards working people and would soften the blow of Labour's recent welfare cuts which, after a chaotic backbench rebellion, saw the health element of Universal Credit halved. Last minute concessions, however, meant that radical changes to personal independence payment (Pip) would be delayed until November 2026. Mr Coogan also argued that a key reason post-industrial areas are 'dying' is the dominance of large supermarket chains. He claimed the co-operative movement would ensure less money left the local economy, with profits reinvested into key projects in the area. The movement is believed to date back to the 18th century but rose to prominence after the successful co-op at the Rochdale Pioneers' Shop in 1844. Mr Coogan pointed out that the idea was birthed in the UK but he suggested that it has been making bigger gains in other parts of the world. Earlier this year, the comedian starred in a two-part drama, written by James Graham, about Margaret Thatcher's 1989 interview with Brian Walden. The star, who plays the former Labour MP turned London Weekend Television host, said that he had 'huge antipathy' for the former PM describing himself as 'very anti-Thatcher'. He told the Radio Times: 'The one thing that I was worried about in this drama was being too compassionate because of her legacy.' The actor even took exception to a scene written by Sherwood writer Mr Graham, 42, for being 'too kind' to the Iron Lady and said that she would now be diagnosed with a 'disorder'. Mr Coogan added: 'In fact, in the edit we cut something because I thought it was a bit too kind and we wanted to remind people that there was this damage... 'She had vision and zeal, but she lacked empathy. Now, she'd probably be diagnosed with some sort of disorder.'
The Independent
28 minutes ago
- The Independent
The destruction of Iran's nuclear programmes opens the door to a better future for citizens like me
The dismantling of the Ayatollah's dangerous nuclear sites is a defining moment for millions of us ordinary Iranians who have dared to dream that one day the country's repressive theocratic regime may fall. For the first time, I have hope in my heart. Twenty-eight years ago, I fled Iran to save my life and find freedom in the UK. I was arrested twice in Iran due to my outspoken opposition to the regime. Following my second arrest, I learned that it was planning to eliminate me. I had no choice but to leave. You can never truly escape a regime of this nature, though. Iran's tentacles now threaten us here, with its active promotion of extremism, and MI5 have revealed that they have foiled more than 20 terror plots from Iran's brutal Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps since 2022. It has heavily invested in British charities, mosques and communities in order to destroy the very foundations of what we stand for and destroy us from within. Alert to the emerging threat, two and a half years ago, I made the difficult decision to sacrifice the very freedom I once sought for myself. I have lived on the streets ever since, away from my wife, the Conservative councillor Mattie Heaven, my home, and my family, risking my life every day that I am in the peace camp opposite the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Repeatedly subject to verbal and physical attacks by agents of the IRGC freely acting on British soil, I treat every day as my last. I've been threatened with beheading, with a large knife later discovered on one of the assailants by the police. A fatwa has even been issued against me. The destruction of Iran's nuclear programmes opens the door to a better future for the citizens of Iran. This historic people have suffered for 47 long years. The butchers of Tehran have perpetrated grisly human rights abuses, with public hangings a daily horror and women beaten for the 'crime' of not wearing a hijab 'correctly.' Is it any surprise that 80 per cent of the Iranian public oppose the Iranian regime? Shaken to its core, the regime has again turned to what it knows best. More than 700 people have been arrested over the last two weeks on spurious claims that they aided Israel, including rabbis and other senior Jewish leaders. Executions are also on the rise again. It is nothing more than a desperate attempt to silence critics and forestall an uprising against the teetering regime. The internet was taken down for days on end. Human rights groups are sounding the alarm over unfair trials and forced confessions. Journalists and their families have been threatened, including those from the BBC. Internet access continues to be restricted. We can ill afford not to prepare for the regime's impending collapse. The arduous work must be completed now to ensure Iran's next chapter is not written in blood or chaos, but in law, democracy, and the will of the people. Iran's once great civil society has been mercilessly eroded by the regime and needs the support of the international community and the Iranian diaspora to usher in a new Iran. It is why the Iranian Front for the Revival of Law and National Sovereignty, which I recently launched in the European Parliament with cross-party support, is working flat out to produce the necessary legal framework to stabilise the country, protect citizens and pave the way for a freely elected Constituent Assembly. It is inspiring that representatives of Iran's richly diverse ethnic, religious and political groups are engaging with the initiative, as well as many of those who were forced into exile. There can be no going back to the status quo, which has crushed the Iranian people and caused untold suffering throughout the region, including the deaths of British soldiers and British citizens wasting away in Iran's grim jails. The UK Government must embrace this historic moment and join our groundbreaking efforts. After all, the advancement of democracy and equality in an unstable world is good for the people of Britain. It will also eradicate Iran's deep role in people smuggling and drug trafficking, which are destabilising British society. The challenges of regime change are significant, but they are incomparable to the vast opportunities it would bring not only for the people of Iran but for the security, stability, and prosperity of the entire world. A free, democratic Iran would be a turning point for the region and a beacon of hope for global peace. The Iranian people have shown remarkable resilience and it is our duty to prepare the ground for a better future – one of democracy, equality and freedom.
Daily Mail
32 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Trainee priest 'sexually assaulted worshippers' at booze-addled cathedral where choristers 'did last seven shots of Christ drinking game'
A trainee priest is alleged to have sexually assaulted two worshippers while drunk at a cathedral where choristers played a last seven shots of Christ drinking game. Serious complaints have been made about 'a culture in which sexual boundaries seemed blurred' at Bangor Cathedral with one of the victims coming forward. One of the trainee's alleged victims said she was assaulted at the Cathedral's booze-addled Oktoberfest event in 2022. She explained that the priest-in-training had consumed copious amounts of alcohol which led to the assault. 'He had had considerably too much to drink,' she told the BBC. 'I'd already warned people that night he's drinking a lot more than everyone else. So these warning signs were ignored and that led to that assault.' The Church in Wales confirmed that two people complained about the man's behavior and his priest training was not taken forward. Despite reporting the assault and receiving an apology, she said the intense drinking culture at the church did not change. She explained that after a cathedral concert on Good Friday in 2023, where the choir sang seven songs to mark the Seven Last Words of Christ - the seven last sentences that Jesus spoke from the cross - choristers and priests went for a drink. To mark the occasion they all decided to do 'the seven last shots of Christ'. Meanwhile, Esme Byrd, 29, who was a lay clerk at Bangor Cathedral for six months said there was an 'unhealthy' culture of binge drinking at the church. Ms Byrd, who sang with the choir until she left in January said she was deeply concerned about the wellbeing of younger members of the choir. 'I looked around and I just thought, this is not safe,' Esme told the BBC. 'This is not a safe and nurturing and good environment for children to be in.' She left the church after her concerns were ignored and a lack of action was taken. The claims come days after the Archbishop of Wales announced his sudden retirement following a critical report into the drinking culture at Bangor Cathedral. Most Reverend Andrew John said he would also be stepping down from his role as Bishop of Bangor on August 31. The report included claims of excessive drinking and 'inappropriate language' being used in front of younger members of the choir. Announcing his retirement on Friday, Mr John said: 'It has been an enormous joy to serve in the Church in Wales for over 35 years. 'I would very much like to thank the clergy and congregations of this wonderful diocese before I retire.' While no mention of the report was made in his retirement announcement, Mr John has previously faced calls to resign. Ruth Jones, Labour MP for Newport West and Islwyn, said: 'We want openness and transparency in all our church settings and it's really, really important that the archbishop makes clear what has gone on.' Two priests from within Bangor Cathedral have also called an independent inquiry following the report into the church's culture. Mr John previously offered his 'most heartfelt apology to any members of the cathedral community who have been hurt or who feel I have let them down'. Mr John assumed the role of Bishop of Bangor in 2008. He was elected Archbishop of Wales in December 2021 and was the 14th person to hold the title.
