Judges Behaving Badly - Revisited

In July 2006 I commented on a story about a judge in America who allegedly masturbated (or used a penis pump) while in court. The following are some British judges behaving badly. The information below were taken from UK newspaper, The Independent.
In the past year, there has been a record number of complaints against judges, magistrates and other judicial office holders.

The Office for Judicial Complaints (OJC) said it looked into 1,434 cases in the first 10 months of its existence. These include allegations of racism, drink-driving and other improper conduct. Eight judges and magistrates were removed from the Bench with a further 10 reprimanded.

There are currently about 400 of the original complaints still being investigated or have yet to be considered.

I remember reading a story in the UK papers a few years ago (while I was a student there) of a magistrate who was quoted by the local newspapers as saying that women should stop “crying rape” (implying that most rape cases were not genuine). He was reprimanded of course.

Also in the past year, a number of high-profile cases have made national headlines. The case of the Brazilian cleaner, Roselane Driza, 37, who was convicted of blackmail and theft at the Old Bailey last year exposed the behaviour of two immigration judges. They are still being investigated by the OJC over allegations of bringing the judiciary into disrepute.

This month, a Court of Appeal judge was charged with exposing himself to two women on trains. Lord Justice Richards, who is no longer sitting while the case is being heard, was arrested in January following a complaint about an incident on a train in the South-west last October. A spokeswoman for the OJC said a full report on the case would be published in June this year.

Under investigation

Mohammed Ilyas Khan
Judge Khan, 60, and another judge identified only as Miss J, are being investigated for unfitting conduct after it was revealed they were part of a love triangle with an illegal immigrant, Roselane Driza, 37, a Brazilian cleaner. Driza was convicted of blackmail and theft.

Alan Mitchell
The 68-year-old magistrate was reprimanded after complaining about 'bloody foreigners' in a Manchester courtroom. He made the remark after dealing with his list of cases. He was overheard by a colleague, who complained, saying she was married to an Iranian and that she was unhappy with his comments.

Ahmed Nadim
A Crown Court recorder, 47-year-old Mr Nadim is being investigated by the Office for Judicial Complaints after a newspaper alleged he had links to a property deal with a fugitive crime boss.