A judge has been removed from office for gross misconduct after he sent a “highly sexualised image” to a member of court staff.
District Judge Andrew Simpson’s actions were found by the Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr and Lord Chancellor David Lammy to be “wholly inappropriate” and “represented a serious failure to meet the standards expected”, the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) said in a statement on Wednesday.
The body said that an investigation was launched after it received a complaint that Mr Simpson, who was based in Newcastle, had “behaved inappropriately towards a number of staff”.
The complaint contained allegations that he sent photos from social events attended outside work, including the sexualised image, as well as claims of “unwanted physical contact”, “overly familiar and unprofessional conduct” and referring to himself and colleagues in “highly inappropriate terms” in emails sent from his professional account.
Mr Simpson “questioned the motivations of those supporting the complaints” and “accepted the substance of some of the allegations but denied any improper intent”, while also acknowledging that some behaviours were inappropriate and would not be repeated, the statement said.
A disciplinary panel initially recommended that he be reprimanded, the most serious sanction short of removal from office, after finding that Mr Simpson had “communicated inappropriately” with some staff and that “whilst his intentions were not improper, his actions were seriously misguided”.
But Baroness Carr and Mr Lammy found that Mr Simpson’s actions “amounted to gross misconduct which involved a very serious failure of integrity”, the statement said.
It said: “They noted that Mr Simpson’s behaviour was repeated, involved an abuse of his position, caused distress to staff, and had a detrimental impact on the working environment and on the reputation of the judiciary.”
It continued: “In light of the seriousness of the misconduct and taking account of all relevant aggravating and mitigating factors, the Lord Chancellor and the Lady Chief Justice determined that Mr Simpson’s position as a judicial office holder was no longer tenable and that removal from office was the appropriate and proportionate sanction.”
The courts and tribunals judiciary website says that Mr Simpson was admitted to the Roll of Solicitors in 2000 and began working as a district judge in December 2022, based at the Newcastle Civil and Family Courts and Tribunals Centre.
The JCIO statement also said that Mr Simpson claimed his communication style was “informal but consistently polite and friendly”, and that some of the incidents were attempts to “support or cheer up staff during difficult periods”.
But it added that Baroness Carr and Mr Lammy found that Mr Simpson’s “unfounded challenge to the motivation of those supporting the complaint” aggravated the behaviour, and that they were “not satisfied that he had demonstrated sufficient insight into the seriousness of his conduct”.
