Ramya Nagesh missed her client's evidence.
A barrister has been cleared of professional misconduct after falling asleep during her client’s evidence at an inquest hearing.
Ramya Nagesh, who worked on the Grenfell Inquiry and wrote a book on sleepwalking, was accused by the Bar Standards Board (BSB) of professional misconduct after she ‘dozed off’ during a hearing.
But the BSB failed to prove the barrister, part of commercial law firm 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square, harmed the public’s trust in the profession.
A disciplinary tribunal today accepted Nagesh’s medical evidence that she suffered from ‘excessive sleepiness’ as a result of the undiagnosed effects of long covid, vitamin D deficiency and a sleep disorder.
Nagesh was in her hotel room at the Holiday Inn Express, Stockport, when she tuned in virtually to the coroner’s inquest at Pontypridd County Court, Wales in December 2022
Her client, a nurse witness, was giving evidence to inquest when the coroner realised Nagesh was absent.
The barrister, whose camera was off, failed to respond when invited to ask further questions, The Telegraph reported.
Instead she returned to the hearing 15 minutes late.
Nagesh had reportedly fallen asleep after eating a baked potato during the inquest’s 45-minute lunch break, the tribunal heard.
She fell asleep again for roughly two hours during the afternoon session.
Attempts to contact her by phone, text or email went unanswered during this time.
Nagesh initially blamed her disappearance on an ‘internet glitch’ before admitting to being ‘in a fog’, saying she had believed she’s only been asleep for 10 minutes at most.
David Welch, the BSB’s lawyer, accused Nagesh of acting ‘extremely shoddily’ and wasting court time.
The barrister successfully argued she suffered from fatigue caused by a covid-19 infection, along with a vitamin D deficiency and a sleep disorder that affected her cognition and memory and caused bad dreams.
A disciplinary tribunal found Nagesh, who apologised and accepted responsibility, to be a ‘completely reliable, honest and credible witness’.
It agreed with her lawyer, Neil Sheldon KC’s argument that the ‘neurological episode’ would have been treated more sympathetically if she had appeared in person.
Sheldon had successfully argued that the health episode was no more of a breach than a diabetic barrister experiencing a hypoglycemic attack that left them unable to fully participate in the inquest.
Mr Sheldon told the tribunal that the charges had ‘overshadowed every aspect of her [Ms Nagesh’s] life’ for 18 months, during which she got married and had a child.
Concluding that Nagesh ‘is beyond reproach’, Janet Waddicor, a judge on the five-person panel, found the watchdog’s relentless pursuit of the case, without carefully assessing the evidence, ‘very troubling’.
Mr Sheldon said the ‘damage can never be repaired.
David Perry KC described Nagesh as a ‘very level headed, decent, good person’ while providing evidence about her character.
Nagesh had previously written an academic textbook on how criminal law treats cases of sleepwalking, blackouts and hypoglycaemia.
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