Black barrister was told ‘it’s not for defendants’ at London court car park

Stephen Akinsanya: ‘There is still a perception that, if you’re black, you’re more likely not to be the lawyer, you’re more likely to be a defendant’. Photograph: Martin Godwin/The Guardian

A black barrister has said a security guard told him he could not park in a court’s car park in London because “it’s not for defendants”.

Stephen Akinsanya, who in June was awarded an OBE for raising awareness of youth knife crime and its prevention, said the incident, at an east London court about four weeks ago, illustrated the lack of progress on racism within the criminal justice system.