Henry Hendron avoided jail last year
A junior barrister has been suspended from the profession for three years — but not struck off — after admitting to supplying drugs that killed his 18-year-old boyfriend in 2015.
Henry Hendron, formerly of Strand Chambers, London, initially denied six charges relating to drug offences back in March 2016. However, just two weeks later, Hendron changed his mind, and pleaded guilty to two counts relating to possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply. Legal Cheek understands that no evidence was given in relation to the other counts against him.
Following an independent disciplinary tribunal yesterday, the Bar Standards Board (BSB) has now confirmed that Hendron has been suspended from practice for three years.
However, the junior lawyer could be back at the bar much sooner than that. According to the regulator, the suspension “takes effect from 17 May 2016, the date when he [Hendron] was originally made subject to an immediate suspension”.
The BSB’s director of professional conduct, Sara Jagger, said:
A conviction for supplying illegal drugs is a serious matter. In this case, it had tragic consequences. Mr Hendron failed to meet one of the core duties of a barrister, which is to uphold public trust and confidence. The suspension imposed by the tribunal reflects this.
The BSB’s statement, released this morning, also reveals that Hendron was fined £2,000 for “administrative failings as a head of chambers.” It continues:
These included failing to make sure fees earned by a particular barrister working in the chambers were properly and efficiently administered, and failing to give proper notice to a barrister when asking that barrister to leave the chambers.
The 35-year-old was first arrested in January 2015, after his boyfriend, Miguel Jimenez — who was a waiter in London — was found dead at his flat in the Temple. Reports at the time stated that police recovered a number of drugs from the junior barrister’s home address, including mephedrone, otherwise known as ‘meow meow’. A subsequent postmortem revealed that Jimenez had died of a drug overdose.
Appearing before the Old Bailey in May, the criminal law specialist — who was called to the bar in 2006 and charged £250 per consultation according to his personal website — was ordered to complete 140 hours of unpaid work and handed an 18-month supervision order.
Hendron came under fire from certain sections of the legal profession for speaking to the media prior to his sentencing. Appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he revealed how his “whole world had collapsed” and that Jimenez’s death was “the most traumatic experience he’d ever been through”.
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