Disciplinary tribunal finds barrister committed multiple breaches linked to court proceedings
A disciplinary tribunal has suspended barrister Mr Mohammad Tayyab Khan from practice for 12 months after finding that he committed multiple acts of professional misconduct connected to proceedings before a coroner’s court.
The five-person Disciplinary Tribunal of the Bar Standards Board reached its decision on 8 June 2026. The suspension has not yet taken effect because an appeal is pending. The tribunal also ordered Mr Khan to pay costs of £6,960.00.
According to the disciplinary findings, the tribunal found that Mr Khan breached several professional obligations under the Bar Standards Board Handbook, including duties relating to integrity, public trust and confidence in the profession, and the efficient administration of justice.
The findings centred on Mr Khan’s conduct during proceedings in the Coroner’s Court for Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire on 1 June 2022. The tribunal found that he knowingly assisted or enabled Sophia Khan to breach an injunction order issued by the High Court on 11 November 2021. It concluded that he appeared as an advocate, took instructions from Ms Khan and relayed her responses to the coroner, thereby assisting or enabling her to exercise a right of audience when he knew, or ought to have known, that her practising certificate had been suspended and that she was not entitled to undertake that reserved legal activity. The tribunal also found that Mr Khan failed to act with integrity in relation to the same conduct.
In a separate finding concerning the same hearing, the tribunal concluded that Mr Khan failed to take reasonable steps to avoid wasting the court’s time. It found that he repeatedly answered questions from the coroner by reading out responses supplied by Ms Khan. The coroner described the approach as “completely unworkable” and said the process was “disjointed, time consuming and would be disruptive to the efficient working of the inquest”. The tribunal further found that this conduct was likely to diminish public trust and confidence in the profession.
The tribunal also examined Mr Khan’s conduct during an inquest on 31 October 2022. It found that he failed to act with integrity when responding to questions about the capacity in which he represented an interested person. Mr Khan told the coroner that records kept by the Bar Council showed he had been employed by Just for Public for “many, many years”. The tribunal found that statement to be inaccurate because records indicated he had provided information showing he had been employed by the company since 10 August 2021.
As a result of these findings, the tribunal imposed a 12-month suspension from practice. The disciplinary record states that the matter remains subject to an appeal.