Brawl marks the arrival of Christmas party season
Two barristers got into a fight at a recent Middle Temple bar student qualifying session — with one reportedly receiving a police caution in the wake of the scrap.
The incident took place last Thursday at one of the occasional “private guest night” dinners to which Middle Temple student and barrister members are allowed to bring non-lawyer guests.
One of the guests at the session was a barrister’s girlfriend — with whom another barrister unsuccessfully tried to flirt. This is where things took a turn for the worse. “Sources” tell legal gossip blog RollOnFriday that when the woman rebuffed the rival barrister’s advances and turned her back to him, “he pulled her hair”. At which point the brawl began. The blog adds:
The uncouth gesture sparked a fight with her ‘incensed’ boyfriend which was broken up when a member of the catering staff intervened.
In the aftermath of the melee the police were called and the mystery hair-pulling barrister was apparently cautioned for being drunk and disorderly. However, he escaped being arrested for suspicion of assault.
Middle Temple has declined to issue a comment on the matter.
Update: 10:10am — Ryan Turner, the president of the Middle Temple Students’ Association, has contested the version of events documented in the blogosphere. Turner tells Legal Cheek that at the time of the alleged altercation “there were very few members and guests still present, and the quarrel was between two guest members.” He adds: “The incident was handled discreetly and without incident”.