Pleaded guilty to assault
The bar disciplinary tribunal has reprimanded an unregistered barrister following a late-night altercation at a Nottingham cocktail bar that led to an assault conviction.
Benedicte Mabika, 25, was at the Wax Bar in Nottingham at 2:45am on 23 December 2023 when she threw a bottle at a woman “who was known to her from school”, hitting her above the eye and “causing a cut which bled”, according to the tribunal’s decision.
Mabika told police she had intended to throw the contents of a drink at the other woman — whom she claimed was threatening her sister — but the bottle slipped from her hand, striking the victim instead. She admitted her actions were reckless.
At Nottingham Magistrates’ Court in July 2024, Mabika pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm. She was fined £858, ordered to pay £100 in compensation, and faced a £343 victim surcharge and £85 in costs.
Mabika had been called to the bar just a month earlier, in November 2023, and is listed as an unregistered barrister. This means she has passed the bar course but has yet to complete her pupillage.
The Bar Standards Board (BSB) Handbook states that, “unregistered barristers remain members of the profession and are expected to conduct themselves in an appropriate manner. In this context, they remain subject to certain Core Duties and Conduct Rules at all times.”
After Mabika self-reported her conviction to the BSB, a three-person disciplinary panel found she had breached Core Duty 5 and Rule C8 of the BSB Handbook, which require barristers to maintain the trust and confidence of the public and uphold professional integrity.
Despite the seriousness of the incident, the tribunal decided it was a “one-off” and said her culpability was “low to moderate”. There were no previous disciplinary findings, and Mabika had self-reported the conviction and shown “complete remorse and regret”. The only aggravating factor was the criminal conviction itself.
“It was a very foolish and potentially dangerous thing to do,” the tribunal said. “However, we are as confident as we can be that this is a one-off incident and very much out of character.”
They acknowledged the long-term impact the case could have on her ambitions to practise law, adding: “We are confident there is little or no ongoing risk to the public.”
While Ms Mabika avoided a professional fine, she was ordered to pay £500 towards the BSB’s costs and received a formal reprimand.
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