Barrister who fell asleep during inquest cleared of misconduct
A barrister who fell asleep during a coroner’s inquest has been cleared of all professional misconduct charges.
The Bar Standards Board (BSB) failed to prove that Ramya Nagesh, a member of commercial chambers 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square, harmed the public’s trust in the profession after she “dozed off” during a virtual court hearing.
A disciplinary tribunal on Tuesday unanimously accepted the barrister’s medical evidence that she suffered from “excessive sleepiness” caused by the undiagnosed effects of long Covid, vitamin D deficiency, and a sleep disorder involving bad dreams.
Such health conditions resulted in an “impairment of cognition, memory and insight” that meant she was unable to fully participate in the inquest, the tribunal found.
Ms Nagesh, who has worked on the Grenfell Inquiry and Hillsborough Inquest, was accused of professional misconduct after falling asleep and missing her client’s hour-long testimony during a coroner’s inquest in December 2022.
The barrister, acting on behalf of a nurse witness, appeared remotely from her Holiday Inn Express hotel room in Stockport.
Ms Nagesh, who has previously written a legal textbook on sleepwalking, fell asleep during the lunch break and again for about two hours during the afternoon session.
David Welch, the BSB’s lawyer, argued that Ms Nagesh acted “extremely shoddily” and wasted court time.
However, the disciplinary tribunal described Ms Nagesh as a “completely reliable, honest and credible witness” who apologised and accepted responsibility for her conduct.
It concluded: “In short, she is beyond reproach.”
The tribunal also agreed with her defence lawyer, Neil Sheldon KC, that this “neurological episode” would have been treated sympathetically had she appeared in person and is no more of a breach than a diabetic barrister experiencing a hypoglycemic attack.
Janet Waddicor, a judge on the five-person panel, added that it was “very troubling” that the watchdog relentlessly pursued the case without stopping to carefully assess the evidence.
Mr Sheldon KC told the tribunal that the charges “overshadowed every aspect of her [Ms Nagesh] life” during the past 18 months, including her own wedding and the birth of her child.
“Damage that can never be repaired,” he added.
The BSB and Ms Nagesh were contacted for comment.
