A barrister who wrote a book on sleepwalking and who fell asleep during a coroner’s inquest has been cleared of all professional misconduct charges.
Ramya Nagesh, a member of commercial chambers in Gray’s Inn Square in London, was accused by the Bar Standards Board (BSB) of harming the public’s trust in the profession after falling asleep during a virtual hearing.
She said she was suffering from fatigue and excessive sleepiness caused by a Covid infection, vitamin D insufficiency and a sleep disorder.
A disciplinary tribunal on Tuesday unanimously accepted the barrister’s medical evidence, concluding such health conditions resulted in an “impairment of cognition, memory and insight” that meant she was unable to fully participate in the inquest.
Nagesh, who has worked on the Grenfell inquiry and Hillsborough inquest, previously wrote a legal academic textbook on how cases involving sleepwalking, blackouts and hypoglycaemia are treated in criminal law.
The book – titled A Practical Guide to Insane and Non-Insane Automatism in Criminal Law – Sleepwalking, Blackouts, Hypoglycaemia and Other Issues – is priced at £49.99 on Amazon.
According to lawyers representing Nagesh, a judge on the five-person panel, Janet Waddicor, said it was “very troubling” that the BSB had relentlessly pursued the case without stopping to carefully assess the evidence.
The BSB has been contacted for comment.
The tribunal heard that Nagesh fell asleep shortly after she began eating a baked potato during the inquest’s 45-minute lunch break.
The barrister woke up and returned to the inquest nearly 15 minutes late despite the coroner repeating three times that the case would not adjourn until 1.30pm.
The BSB accused the barrister of failing to provide an adequate explanation or apology for her late appearance.
The tribunal heard that Nagesh, whose camera was turned off during the inquest, fell asleep again during the afternoon session for nearly two hours.
The coroner became aware that she was not fully present after the barrister failed to respond to her invitations for further questions.
The coroner’s court, the clerk, her solicitor and her chambers were unable to reach her by phone, text or email, the tribunal heard.
