Solicitor turned district judge was removed from judicial office in March 2015
A solicitor turned judge who was sacked last year for watching porn on a work computer has been given a stern telling-off by the regulator.
Peter Bullock was one of a trio of judges sacked last year for accessing porn at work, behaviour described at the time by the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office as “wholly unacceptable”.
But as if a sacking and a spell of — very embarrassing — media attention wasn’t enough, because the disgraced former Recorder qualified as a solicitor in 1967, he has now been reprimanded by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) for his behaviour as well.
Bullock, who worked on the North Eastern Circuit, formally admitted yesterday that, by accessing “inappropriate material on two occasions” in the summer of 2013, he failed to act with integrity and to behave in a way that maintains the trust that the public places in him.
Though he did state in mitigation that the material was accessed only “in private chambers”, only twice, and that his conduct didn’t “impinge” on his judicial work, he did accept a written rebuke from the SRA. He also agreed to pay £600 as a “contribution to the costs of the investigation”.
It’s been a busy month for our trio of disgraced judges. Another of the three was at the London Central Employment Tribunal just last week, arguing that he had been discriminated against and unfairly sacked by the Ministry of Justice. Warren Grant — a former immigration judge, who was paid an annual salary of £128,000 — claims he was suffering from “severe undiagnosed depression” when he viewed the inappropriate content.
The tribunal has adjourned to consider its verdict, and a decision in the case is expected shortly.