The barrister was found to have made inappropriate remarks during a work trip and sent inappropriate WhatsApp messages to a colleague
A senior barrister who headed Gloucestershire Police’s legal services department has been ordered to be disbarred after a disciplinary tribunal found that he made inappropriate sexual comments in the presence of junior female colleagues and engaged in inappropriate communications with a junior colleague.
Michael Griffiths, who was called to the Bar in May 1993, faced four charges of professional misconduct brought by the Bar Standards Board. A five-person Bar Tribunals and Adjudication Service panel found all four charges proved.
The tribunal concluded that Griffiths’s conduct was likely to diminish public trust and confidence in him and the profession and could reasonably be seen as undermining his integrity. At the time of the misconduct, Griffiths was head of the legal services department at Gloucestershire Police.
The tribunal found that, during a work-related trip to a legal conference in London in 2023, Griffiths made inappropriate comments of a sexual nature in the presence of two junior female colleagues.
During the train journey, he referred to a woman wearing a short skirt as “a nice addition to the office”, or words to that effect. Later, when one of the junior colleagues suggested he book a hotel room using a business card, Griffiths replied: “I can take you there if you like, but I don’t think they do 20-minute sessions”, or words to that effect.
After the colleague responded that he could not afford to take her there, Griffiths replied: “Oh trust me, if I was taking you in there, I could afford it”, or words to that effect.
The tribunal found that the conduct amounted to inappropriate and unwanted direct contact with the two junior colleagues while Griffiths was in a position of seniority. It concluded that the comments had the purpose or effect of violating their dignity, were humiliating, created an offensive environment and amounted to an abuse of his senior professional position.
Griffiths was also found to have exchanged an excessive number of WhatsApp messages with one junior female colleague between November 2021 and June 2023. The tribunal found that some of the messages were inappropriate in nature given the professional relationship between a senior barrister and a junior colleague.
In a separate finding, the tribunal concluded that Griffiths shared intimate details about his relationship with his wife with the same colleague. This too was found to amount to inappropriate and unwanted direct contact while he was in a position of seniority.
A spokesperson for the Bar Standards Board said: “We are committed to ensuring that such behaviour is not tolerated at the Bar and take all reports of such conduct seriously. Mr Griffiths actions were a clear example of this type of conduct and incompatible with membership of the Bar, and this is reflected in the decision of the tribunal to disbar Mr Griffiths.”
The tribunal ordered that Griffiths be disbarred and directed that the Bar Standards Board should not issue him with a practising certificate pending any appeal. He was also ordered to pay costs of £2,880.
The findings remain subject to appeal.