Left in bag after recent camping trip
A magistrate has been issued with formal advice after inadvertently bringing a knife into a court building as he arrived for training.
Agboola Obanubi, a magistrate on the South Essex Bench, was passing through court security when the camping-style folding knife was found in a compartment of his bag, according to a statement from the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO).
Obanubi accepted that he had attended court with the knife in his bag, saying he had unknowingly left it there following a recent camping trip. He also acknowledged the seriousness of the incident and took steps to ensure that it would not happen again.
With Obanubi’s agreement, the matter was dealt with under a faster process used when the facts are agreed and the conduct is likely to amount to misconduct requiring formal advice or a warning.
Mr Justice Keehan, on behalf of the Lady Chief Justice, and the Lord Chancellor agreed with the JCIO’s recommendation that Obanubi should receive formal advice.
In reaching the decision, Obanubi’s recent appointment and lack of any previous misconduct were taken into account, alongside his full cooperation with court security, engagement with bench leadership and acceptance of responsibility for the “inadvertent oversight”. He had also demonstrated insight into the seriousness of the matter and taken practical steps to prevent it happening again.
Formal advice is the least severe sanction available for misconduct by judicial office-holders, followed by a formal warning, reprimand and removal from office.
Who uses the same bag that they go to court with to go camping?
The images of an old-school leather satchel in a tent, or alternatively a Bergen in the courtroom cloakroom, are rather funny to conjure up.