Barrister cleared of misconduct for falling asleep during inquest | UK News [Video]

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 …