‘Mistaken For A Defendant’: Veteran Black Barrister Reveals Bias In UK Courts

By Times News

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"Rewind 34 years ago and here we are again, and me thinking: Gosh, have we not made any progress?" 34 years ago, Stephen Akinsanya, a newly qualified barrister, was mistaken for a defendant in a London court car park because he is black. The same thing happened to him recently at the same court. He says that these biased assumptions exist at every level, from car park attendants and security staff all the way up to senior members of the judiciary. Stephen Akinsanya was speaking to Fi Glover on Times Radio. Listen to Jane & Fi on Times Radio Monday-Thursday, 2-4pm. Read the best of our journalism: https://www.thetimes.com/ Listen live to Times Radio: https://www.thetimes.com/radio/live Subscribe to The Times and The Sunday Times YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=timesonlinevideo Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/timesandsundaytimes/ Find us on X: https://x.com/thetimes Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetimes/

Tags: the times, the sunday times, stephen akinsanya, black barrister, times radio, racism in uk courts, uk criminal justice system, barrister mistaken for defendant, black judges uk, judiciary diversity, judicial appointments commission, unconscious bias law, london court incident, being black in criminal justice, uk news, legal system racism, court backlog uk