Drunk judge suspended for kissing lawyer and swearing in court

A drunk judge had to be escorted from court after kissing a solicitor, swearing at an usher and insulting a prosecutor while "fortified" with brandy, a disciplinary tribunal has heard. Deputy District Judge Esther Cunningham caused uproar at the hearing, at which she was appearing as a solicitor, swaying and clutching a table to steady herself while interrupting proceedings.

She also appeared drunk during a legal training course which she was conducting and spoke openly about wanting to punch the chairman of her legal governing body, a hearing in London was told. Cunningham, 54, was banned from practising law for six months after admitting a series of charges including bringing the profession into disrepute.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal heard that she took part in the hearing at Grantham Magistrates' Court in Lincolnshire on Nov 8, 2006, representing her cousin in a dangerous dogs prosecution. George Marriott, for the tribunal, told how she told an usher to 'f*** off' when he refused to give her the names of the magistrates and referred to the prosecution lawyer as 'a f***wit. He added that she later defended the expression by observing that the lawyer had been "called worse things in his time".



"The respondent forcibly kissed another solicitor and aggressively demanded to know the identity of other people within the courtroom," he said.

Cunningham, of Grantham, initially denied being drunk in court, claiming that she taken migraine drugs which made her sway while an illness caused her breath smell as if she had been drinking.

She was suspended for six months on Tuesday and ordered to pay costs of £6,200 after admitting impairing her integrity; compromising the good repute of the profession; failing to act in the best interests of a client; bringing the profession into disrepute and failing to provide a prompt response to the SRA.