A man who pretended to be a barrister was rumbled when eagle-eyed Immigration Tribunal staff noticed he wasn't the genuine named lawyer he purported to be.
Cecil Decker, 39, of Old Kent Road, London, admitted an offence of wilfully pretending to be a barrister at an earlier hearing.
He appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court for sentencing on Thursday, 28th March 2024.
Wilfully pretending to be a barrister is an offence under section 181 of the Legal Services Act 2007. It has a maximum penalty of 6 months' custody and/or an unlimited fine on summary conviction; 2 years' custody and/or an unlimited fine on conviction on indictment.
Deputy District Judge Anthony Woodcock heard that Decker had attended an Immigration Appeals Tribunal at Bream's Buildings, London, on Friday, 1st March 2024. Once there he identified himself as genuine barrister Andrew Otchie and signed documents to that effect.
Rachel Darlington, prosecuting, said: "Members of the court knew that Decker was not Otchie, not least because Otchie is a white man and Decker is not, alerted the police and the judge."
On arrival of the police the judge challenged Decker on his identity. Decker admitted that he was not Mr Otchie, despite his initial pretence to the contrary.
The police contacted Mr Otchie, who confirmed he had received phone calls in relation to clients he does not represent. Ms Darlington said that this gives rise to suspicion that Decker's deception had been going on for some time.
David Freedman, mitigating, told the court that his client's actions had been "a stupid, misguided attempt to assist somebody." He added that Decker had made no financial gain as a result of the ruse.
The court heard that Decker has a previous conviction in relation to an offence of dishonesty dating back to 2005. That conviction arose due to Decker's production of a fraudulent medical letter in support of his immigration application.
DDJ Woodcock, sentencing, said: "I accept that you made no financial gain, there may have been a degree of altruism behind your behaviour but it does not alter the fact that the offence is aggravated by a number of features: one, the extent to which you took the matter forward.
"This wasn't simply an oral representation out of court, what happened in the face of the court or in the court precincts, the court was deceived, court staff were deceived.
"The client, I dare say had an important immigration matter to be dealt with, could have been disadvantaged.
"It was a nuisance, to say the very least, to the barrister who you impersonated."
Decker was sentenced to 26 weeks' custody suspended for 18 months', with the requirement that he completes 150 hours' unpaid work and up to 25 days' rehabilitation activity.
He was also ordered to pay £154 surcharge and £85 towards prosecution costs.
My thanks to Daniel ShenSmith, BlackBeltBarrister, for kindly providing the image at the head of this article.
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