Ms Barbara Mary Hewson

Barrister Status:
Unregistered
Called:
Nov 1985
Inn:
Middle Temple
Hearing type:
Disciplinary Tribunal (5 Person)
Decision date
18/12/2019
Breach details:
Professional misconduct contrary to Core Duty 5 of the Code of Conduct of the Bar of England and Wales contained within the Bar Standards Board Handbook (9th Edition)
Offence details:

Barbara Hewson, a practising barrister, behaved in a way which was seriously offensive and likely to diminish the trust and confidence which the public places in Ms Hewson or in the profession in that between 5 February 2017 and 22 March 2018 she posted tweets on Twitter which were:
[i] seriously offensive and/or abusive and/or publicly disparaging towards the complainant, a barrister, including being directed at the complainant’s competence and/or reputation as a barrister; and/or
[ii] obscene or seriously offensive in terms of the language used by Ms Hewson; and/or
[iii] disparaging of the Bar Standards Board’s (BSB’s) regulatory process or of a regulatory complaint against Ms Hewson or of a complainant and were directed at the BSB’s regulatory process itself, thereby undermining public trust and confidence in that regulatory process and thus in the profession.
Barbara Hewson, a barrister, behaved in a way which was seriously offensive and likely to diminish the trust and confidence which the public places in Ms Hewson or in the profession in that on 18th September 2018 she posted 2 tweets on Twitter and between 9th December 2018 and 24th February 2019 she wrote and posted a blog about B2 (a barrister) and about B2's teenage daughter, which tweets and blog were seriously offensive and/or abusive and/or publicly disparaging towards B2, a barrister, including being directed at B2's teenage daughter.

Sanction:
Suspended for 1 year Effective from 18 December 2019
Status:
Final