Andrade defence lawyer claims she’s too scared to ride a bus
mainKate Blackwell QC, who conducted a brutal cross-examination of the violinist Frances Andrade in the rape case against Chetham’s music director Mike Brewer, entered a curious defence when she was stopped for speeding.
Ms Blackwell, 44, said she could not afford to lose her driving license as she feared for her life if she took a bus after the vilification she attracted for defending Mike Brewer.
Brewer was jailed for six years for sexual assault. Andrade, at the end of her cross-examination by Blackwell, committed suicide.
The court in Buxton was unimpressed by Ms Blackwell. She was fined £650 and banned from driving for six months. The ban was later suspended, pending appeal.
Do not approach her if you happen to see her on a bus.
hmm even if true, it seems pretty scummy to use Frances Andrade’s memory as a means to wriggle out of a ban (or was she more bothered about the money, being a lawyer and all). The oft-repeated mantra of lawyers, ‘just doing my job’ loses another notch of credibility, as here we get a fine example of their ethics and pragmatism in action.
This woman may not wish to use public transport, but there are alternatives to driving herself. I’m surprised that a barrister would’t know of the existence of an alternative means of transport. It’s a called a taxi.