A barrister who dealt in the chemsex pills that killed his teenage boyfriend said he represented a client while banned because his dog fouled on another lawyer’s trousers.
Henry Hendron, 40, is facing 18 charges of professional misconduct brought by the Bar Standards Board in relation to behaviour which followed an earlier suspension.
In 2015, Hendron bought £1,000 of mephedrone and GBL, a drug similar to GHB, from BBC producer Alexander Parkin, 42, to deal ‘in bulk’ on to the gay party scene.
He gave detailed instructions to his Colombian boyfriend Miguel Jimenez, 18, on how to use and package the drugs to which Miguel replied: ‘Blimey, and I’m the Colombian.’
Hendron woke up to find Mr Jimenez lying dead next to him in bed at his exclusive flat in London’s Temple – the collection of chambers where Britain’s top lawyers and judges are based.
Hendron admitted dealing the drugs at the Old Bailey in 2016 and was suspended from the bar for three years in 2017.
Henry Hendron, 40, (pictured) is facing 18 charges of professional misconduct brought by the Bar Standards Board in relation to behaviour which followed an earlier suspension
Hendron gave detailed instructions to his boyfriend Miguel Jimenez (pictured right), 18, on how to use and package the drugs. He woke up to find Miguel lying dead at his flat in 2015
But he has since been accused of appearing before a High Court judge, continuing to advertise his services as a barrister, referring to to himself as a barrister with clients, providing legal advice and serving legal documents – all while he was suspended.
He today told the Bar Tribunal and Adjudication Service that he had no choice but to represent the client because his dog fouled on another lawyer’s trousers.
Hendron – who is also accused of using inappropriate or threatening language in email correspondence and of failing to inform a client of his recent criminal conviction – is facing 18 charges of misconduct before the Bar Tribunal and Adjudication Service.
Giving evidence today, Hendron said he had instructed a qualified barrister to appear at the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court in March 2017.
But then disaster struck when his dog relieved himself on the lawyer’s leg at the last moment.
He said: ‘So on the morning of the hearing I pitched up at the High Court. I wasn’t meant to go.
‘I think we had agreed the barrister Luka Maxted-Page would go and I would be there.
‘I pitched up and I seem to recall that at a point outside of the High Court – it sounds odd – that my dog had excreted over Luka’s trousers.
‘Luka was in a fuzzy moment, all over place. I took the view at that point that perhaps it was best that I did it.
‘Because I knew what I was doing at that hearing, I knew the case.’
Panel chair, retired judge James Meston QC, asked: ‘So it was decided that because his trousers had a mess on them you would do it?’
In 2015, Hendron bought £1,000 of mephedrone and GBL, a drug similar to GHB, from BBC producer Alexander Parkin, 42, (pictured) to deal ‘in bulk’ on to the gay party scene
Hendron replied: ‘I just knew it felt uncomfortable, he was in a daze, I didn’t want to.
‘The client was there, Mrs Wu, she had paid me the £10,000. I did not want to show ourselves up by having Luka splatter his way through what was a simple hearing.
‘I needed not to screw it up, not make a bad impression.
‘When I left the flat that morning I wasn’t expected to be the advocate. I did say to the Master that I was a barrister.
‘I regretted that straight away. That I was a qualified barrister.
‘Maybe it was a status thing, I came out with it, probably because of insecurity.
‘I regretted it, I wasn’t passing myself off as a barrister.
‘I knew the problem was that matters would be reported back, they knew that I was suspended.’
Mr Jimenez suffered a lethal overdose of a combination of mephedrone – known as ‘meow meow’ – and GBL in January 2015.
In 2017 at the Old Bailey (pictured above), Hendron was sentenced for supplying drugs and handed a community order with 18 months’ supervision and 140 hours unpaid work
During a search, police recovered 60 self-seal bags of mephedrone and found Hendron’s fingerprints on the jars and envelopes containing the drugs at his flat above 6 Pump Court – unrelated to Pump Court chambers.
The lawyer – who charged up to £1,750 per day for his legal services – at first denied buying and supplying the drugs, but admitted using them with Mr Jimenez.
But Hendron admitted dealing the drugs in 2016 and was given a 140 hour community work order on May 9, 2016.
He was suspended by the Bar Tribunal and Adjudication Service in 2017 for three years following the drug revelations – and for not running his chambers adequately.
Hendron was back before the tribunal in 2019 for the decision on whether he harmed public confidence in the profession after failing to pay a debt of £850.
The lawyer was instructed by Yvonne Hobbs in July 2015, but he was unable to represent her in a hearing and was required to reimburse her the £650 when alternative counsel was employed.
Hendron wrote her a cheque in June 2016 but when she attempted to cash it in July of the same year it was returned unpaid and she brought the matter before the Legal Ombudsman.
Henry Hendron was suspended in 2017 after his conviction for drug dealing the previous year
In March 2017 the Legal Ombudsman made a preliminary decision saying that Hendron owed the amount plus £200 in compensation.
A final decision exactly matching the terms of the preliminary decision was made in April 2017.
Hendron was ordered to pay the sum of £850 to Mrs Hobbs by May 16, 2017, but failed to repay the money and was brought before the professional tribunal.
He now denies 18 charges of professional misconduct.
He is charged with behaving ‘in a way which is likely to diminish the trust and confidence which the public places in the profession’ and ‘in a way which could reasonably be seen by the public to undermine his integrity.
The charges – between 2016 and 2019 – relate to Hendron conducting litigation, online advertisements, and referring to himself as a barrister, all while suspended from professional practice.
He also denies using inappropriate or threatening language in email correspondence on four occasions between May and July 2017.