District Judge Andrew Simpson Removed for Gross Misconduct After Panel Had Recommended Reprimand

District Judge Andrew Simpson has been removed from office after Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr and Lord Chancellor David Lammy ruled his conduct amounted to gross misconduct. The Judicial Conduct Investigations Office announced the decision on Wednesday following a formal investigation.

The investigation began after complaints that Simpson had behaved inappropriately toward a number of staff at the Newcastle Civil and Family Courts and Tribunals Centre.

Allegations included unwanted physical contact, overly familiar and unprofessional conduct, and the sharing of photographs from social gatherings held outside the workplace, one of which was described as highly sexualised. Simpson was also accused of using highly inappropriate terms to describe himself and fellow staff members in emails sent from his official judicial account.

He accepted that some of his behaviour had been inappropriate but maintained he had no improper intent.

A disciplinary panel initially recommended that Simpson receive a formal reprimand. The panel concluded that while his intentions were not improper, his actions were seriously misguided. Baroness Carr and David Lammy overruled that recommendation.

They determined that Simpson’s conduct involved a very serious failure of integrity, had been repeated over time, and represented an abuse of his judicial position. The pair stated that Simpson’s actions caused distress to staff members, created a harmful working environment, and damaged the reputation of the judiciary.

They also found that his unfounded challenge to the motivation of those supporting the complaint aggravated the situation.

They concluded they were not satisfied that Simpson had demonstrated sufficient insight into the seriousness of his conduct, and that his service was therefore no longer tenable. Simpson had been admitted to the Roll of Solicitors in 2000 and took up his district judge role in December 2022.