The court service has issued an apology to a second black barrister in three months after mistaking him for a defendant.
Luke McLean was asking a staff member about the day s listings in a London magistrates court last week, when he was asked if he was a defendant.
Mr McLean, who was representing a client, then spoke to another court worker who asked him if he had received a summons - which are sent to defendants.
Mr McLean pointed out that he was wearing a three-piece suit, adding: And you ask things in a different way as a professional than you would as a defendant. I think I was carrying my laptop, too.
“But the first thing he responded was, are you the defendant? He didn’t ask if I was the barrister, or the probation officer. I could have been anybody. But the first assumption he makes is that I’m the defendant.”
When McLean went to the administration desk to make sure his client was on the list for the day’s proceedings, a staff member asked if he had received a court summons letter, again implying he was the defendant.
A spokesperson for the Courts and Tribunals Service said they were “deeply sorry” for the “unacceptable experience”, just three months after apologising to barrister Alexandra Wilson after she was mistaken for a defendant three times in one day.