Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal

Ryan Beckwith's lead counsel, Alisdair Williamson QC, opened day three of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal hearing into the Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer partner's alleged sexual misconduct, by grilling the complainant over perceived "conflicts" and inconsistencies in her evidence.

In his cross-examination of the complainant, known as Person A – who has accused Beckwith of having engaged in sexual activity with her without consent – Williamson attempted to discredit the evidence she has put forward in support of her claim that she was too drunk to have consented to any sexual activity, that a kiss had taken place after an event in Oxfordshire, and at times intimated that her relationship with Beckwith was not as fraught as she has claimed.

At one point, the complainant suggested a Freshfields in-house counsel had lied and acted "to minimise the consequences" for Beckwith.

Cross-examination

At different points in his cross-examination, Williamson suggested that Person A had misled the tribunal by suggesting her psychiatrist was a qualified doctor; questioned how drunk she actually was during the two incidents in question; and contested specific details in her and another witness's account relating to the night on which the alleged sexual activity took place.

Attempting to weaken Person A's assertions around how drunk she was on both occasions – following the Oxford trip and on the main night in question following drinks at The Harrow pub – Williamson pointed to apparent inconsistencies across her witness statement and that of her flatmate and friend, known as Witness B, suggesting she had not consumed as much alcohol as she said, and that it did not impair her judgement to the extent she claims.

Williamson examined evidence concerning the day after the night in question on July 2, 2016, in which she visited Henley with friends, and even presented her with a picture of herself smiling with a glass of wine in hand at the event. The barrister grilled her on whether this was behaviour consistent with someone who had the previous night "never been more drunk than ever before" in her life. 

"But you'd be feeling shocking, barely able to face any alcohol, one would've thought," Williamson argued.

"My plan was to carry on, the next day," she responded, stressing she was unable to "contemplate what had happened" the night before and was "going through the motions".

Alcohol tolerance

He further pointed to a line in Witness B's statement that indicated Person A was able to "hold her alcohol". Person A threw off this assertion, suggesting Witness B was "wrong" and that the alcohol consumed on the night of the main incident "evidently" left her "significantly impaired". 

Williamson pointed to an event the week after the night in question, on Person A's last day in the office, when she returned to The Harrow on July 8, 2016. She was shown a photo on social media of herself, captioned: "[Hashtag] Harrow, [Hashtag] My boss, [Hashtag] Wine and Shots. However, at this point, the counsel for the Solicitors Regulation Authority, Riel Karmy-Jones QC interjected, making it known to the tribunal that the 'boss' referred to here was not Beckwith.  

Attempting to throw water on the assertion that her and Beckwith's relationship was fractious, Williamson referred the tribunal to interviews involving Freshfields' in-house counsel – known as AS, in whom Person A had confided – in which Person A allegedly said there was a "third person" at the pub that felt like "a third wheel". Williamson argued this was a reference to another associate at the firm, Witness C, who had attended The Harrow with Person A and Beckwith. 

Person A contested this, at which point Williamson asked her whether she was accusing AS of lying. Person A responded: "Unfortunately, that is my view… I don't think her recollection was right." And when asked whether she thought AS was "acting in the course of the investigation for the respondent's benefit", Person A said she felt that, "as a result of them being friends" that "she was acting to minimise consequences for respondent".

The alleged kiss

Regarding the alleged kiss in The Harrow before the alleged sexual contact, Williamson drew on flatmate Witness B's statement, in which Person A apparently told Witness B that Beckwith had kissed her which, Williamson underlined, conflicted with other evidence in which she allegedly said it would be "absurd to suggest" she had kissed him. At this point, Person A remarked that it was likely Witness B had confused the events in Oxfordshire with those in The Harrow.

Williamson also went on to question whether the experience in Oxfordshire really had "accelerated" her decision to leave the firm, asserting that "the truth is, you already decided to go" by this point. 

Drawing on an interview with her psychotherapist, Williamson attacked her claim that she had fallen over repeatedly following drinks at The Harrow on her way to her front door with Beckwith, saying bluntly: "You didn't fall over, did you?" He argued that she had no cuts or bruises that one might have suffered falling onto hard surfaces.

Though Person A claimed she was asleep, Williamson later suggested that she was in fact an "active" participant in looking for a condom on the night of July 1, concluding: "The reality is, you were having a great time in the pub, got back home with the respondent, and the pair of you 'fucked up'," he said, referring to earlier evidence in which Person A suggested both her and Beckwith had made a mutual mistake, and that sleeping with her married boss was "such a cliché". Person A denied this, stressing that any sexual activity was not consensual. 

Toward the end of the third day, Karmy-Jones responded briefly to Williamson, drawing on evidence that, to her mind, did indicate that the kiss on the first event did happen, and that the suggestion Person A was a "willing party" or "even an instigator" to the second was untrue. 

"I'm telling the truth," Person A said tearfully. 

The case continues. Tomorrow (October 3), the tribunal will hear from Person A's flatmate, Witness B, and will hear from the respondent Beckwith on Friday.