Serial sex harassment barrister loses final bid to overturn disbarment

Robert Michael Kearney’s career ends after an appeal against disbarment is thrown out

A barrister with a history of sexual misconduct has lost his final bid to avoid being struck off the roll, after the High Court upheld his disbarment for harassing pupils and a mini‑pupil.

Robert Michael Kearney, called to the Bar in 1996 and practising in criminal law, was disbarred by the Bar Tribunal and Adjudication Service in December 2024 following a sanctions hearing. The tribunal found that he had sexually harassed two pupils and a person undertaking a mini‑pupillage.

Kearney appealed on five grounds, arguing that the tribunal gave him “insufficient credit” for mitigating factors, wrongly treated his rehabilitation as merely “personal mitigation,” and failed to consider the totality of the sanctions imposed.

However, in Robert Kearney v The Bar Standards Board, Mrs Justice Hill, sitting in Manchester, dismissed the appeal in its entirety. She found “nothing wrong” in the way the tribunal assessed his evidence of rehabilitation or his broader character references, adding that the tribunal’s approach was “entirely consistent with the Sanctions Guidance and the particular facts” of his case.

The judge said the tribunal had provided “detailed and clear reasons” for rejecting a suspension and opting for disbarment. She noted that the case involved “an unusually serious situation” in which Kearney faced sanctions for two separate disciplinary cases involving sexual misconduct towards one mini‑pupil and two pupils, on top of two previous sanctions for sexual harassment.

Pattern of Misconduct
Kearney’s disciplinary record stretches back years.

• 2018 – He first appeared before the tribunal and was reprimanded, with a £1,000 fine, for sexually harassing a mini‑pupil.
  
• 2021 – He faced further allegations of inappropriate behaviour, resulting in a six‑month suspension and £3,000 fine. His appeal against that sanction was dismissed.
  
• 2023 – A consolidated sanctions hearing was held to address further allegations. An initial decision to disbar him was successfully appealed, leading to a new sanctions hearing.
  
• December 2024 – The tribunal again decided on disbarment, citing the seriousness and repeated nature of his misconduct.
  

Mrs Justice Hill said the tribunal was entitled to consider why earlier investigations and penalties had failed to prevent further incidents. “For cases within the upper range of seriousness… the Sanctions Guidance made clear disbarment was the ‘indicative sanction’,” she said.

Final Outcome
The judge rejected the suggestion that a lengthy suspension could have been a sufficient penalty, stating that the misconduct warranted the ultimate sanction. “In those circumstances the sanction of disbarment was not manifestly excessive; nor was it wrong or clearly inappropriate, which is the test applicable to this appeal,” she ruled.

With the appeal dismissed, Kearney’s career at the Bar is over. The decision underscores the Bar Standards Board’s stated commitment to tackling sexual harassment within the profession and its willingness to pursue the most severe sanctions in repeat-offender cases.

The case has drawn renewed attention to safeguarding within the legal sector, with campaigners urging chambers and regulators to take proactive steps in protecting junior members from predatory behaviour.