Death Of A Barrister
Sydney Morning Herald
Thursday May 24, 2007
SOME barristers do not pay taxes. Some take drugs. Some tell lies in court. Some collect child pornography. Some offer concoctions as if they were the truth. In other words, a minority of barristers exhibit the same problematic behaviour as every other segment of society. The time has come for barristers, a precious breed, to stop regarding themselves as somehow more law-abiding and worthy than the rest of society simply because they practise law.
On Monday a prominent Melbourne barrister, Peter Hayes, QC, died as a result of an apparent drug overdose. Police have charged a 28-year-old woman with administering him a drug of dependence. They also want to speak with a 21-year-old prostitute over his death. Hayes had been discovered, naked and unconscious in a hotel room, by a client who was a former member of the Gypsy Jokers bikie gang, a group notorious for its long-standing involvement in the illicit drug trade.It is worth noting that in 2005 a solicitor who had worked with Hayes, Isaac Brott, wrote to the Victorian Bar's ethics committee alleging that Hayes was "an inveterate cocaine user". Hayes responded by describing the accusation as "lunatic". The complaint was dismissed as "vexatious and lacking in substance". It is now hard to know who appears the more deluded, Hayes or the Victorian Bar.The manner of Hayes's demise is a graphic reminder that Australia has an intractable drug problem which is not concentrated in the lower reaches of society but is spread across the social spectrum. As the tributes pour in for Hayes this week from the legal fraternity and elsewhere, we are reminded of the recent behaviour of the NSW Bar Association - the barristers' union - after supporting messages had poured in from lawyers and others for another disgraced barrister, Patrick Power, who was recently found guilty of possessing child pornography.The Bar Association wanted The Daily Telegraph charged with contempt after it published an article under the headline "Pervert and his 59 mates", which named the 59 people who had provided testimonials for Power after a magistrate had released the list for publication. The association did not object to publication, but to the tone of the article. This was typical of the prissy behaviour exhibited by many barristers, and judges, in response to public criticism. Barristers are like everyone else. It's not what you do for a living, it's how you do it.
© 2007 Sydney Morning Herald