Imposter sentenced for pretending to be immigration barrister
- Published
Cecil Decker pretended to be a lawyer at Bream's Buildings in central London, where immigration appeals are held
A man who pretended to be a barrister during an immigration tribunal was arrested after court staff spotted the deception, a court heard.
Cecil Decker, 39, was "sworn in" and signed papers using the name of a real lawyer, Andrew Otchie, in London, where the appeals tribunal was being held.
One of the signs that Decker was not Mr Otchie was that Mr Otchie is white and Decker is not, the prosecution said.
Westminster Magistrates' Court imposed a suspended 26-week prison term.
Decker, from south London, admitted impersonating a barrister.
Police officers rang the real Mr Otchie and he revealed he had received phone calls which claimed he has been representing clients he had no knowledge of, which "suggested it had been going on for some period of time", prosecution barrister Rachel Darlington said.
'Stupid and misguided'
In mitigation, defence lawyer David Freedman said there was "no material financial benefit" to Decker's actions and they were "a stupid, misguided attempt to assist somebody".
He is originally from Sierra Leone where his father was a lawyer, and sometimes accompanied him to court.
Judge Anthony Woodcock said: "I accept that you made no financial gain, there may have been a degree of altruism behind your behaviour but it does not alter the fact that the offence is aggravated by a number of features: one, the extent to which you took the matter forward.
"This wasn't simply an oral representation out of court, what happened in the face of the court or in the court precincts, the court was deceived, court staff were deceived.
"The client, I dare say, had an important immigration matter to be dealt with, could have been disadvantaged.
"It was a nuisance, to say the very least, to the barrister who you impersonated."
Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, external, X, external and Instagram, external. Send your story ideas to hello.bbclondon@bbc.co.uk