"There was undressing and touching of private parts."
Three women have spoken for the first time about the “predatory” behaviour of top barrister Jo Sidhu.
Sidhu, a former chair of the Criminal Bar Association and the Society of Asian Lawyers, was disbarred earlier in 2025 after a complaint of sexual misconduct was upheld by a bar tribunal. He had been in contention to become the UK’s top prosecutor.
Speaking to Channel 4, one of the women, referred to as Sienna, said Sidhu first contacted her on LinkedIn. He later offered her a shadowing opportunity during a murder trial.
The first night, Sidhu allegedly invited her to his hotel room, saying it would be easier to discuss case details. After working until 10 pm, she said she tried to leave.
She said: “He was trying to persuade me to stay. I kept on saying that I wanted to leave the room.
“The door was locked. It wasn’t barred, but it was locked, and I was very aware that he was in charge of me this week.
“At some point, the lights had turned off, and I ended up on the bed… He came on top of me and kissed me. There was undressing and touching of private parts.”
Sienna, who feared the impact on her legal career, said she felt “extreme pressure” due to Jo Sidhu’s influence. He was 28 years older than her.
Her complaint was upheld, but two others were dismissed. The Bar Standards Board took over two years to reach a decision.
Sidhu’s conduct is now central to a review by Baroness Harman, commissioned by the Bar Council, into harassment and bullying in the profession.
A leaked draft of the Harman report described Sidhu’s behaviour as “predatory” and “an open secret”. It said senior lawyers had warned juniors to “stay away” from him.
One of the other women, Anneka Jenns, met Sidhu at a Society of Asian Lawyers networking event. After exchanging numbers, she sent him her CV.
He messaged her back late at night, teasing her about her “very exciting life, at which point I made a joke in agreement that I didn’t live an exciting life and that I wasn’t like the young kids listening to grime and twerking. It was at that point he messaged me back and said, ‘I’d love to see you twerk’.”
Jenns added: “I think all three of us had this sense that he had to be stopped.”
The Harman review cited a pattern of abuse:
“We were told that he was notorious for having young women working with him who were known as ‘Sidhu’s b*****’.”
Sienna called the phrase “disgusting” and said it implied complicity.
“That the Bar as a collective had known about this secret, that people would joke about it, that you know, people are complicit in his behaviour.”
Sienna said the regulatory process added to her trauma:
“From start to finish, I thought that it was appalling. The process has been traumatic on top of an already traumatic event.”
Jenns also criticised the Bar Standards Board:
“We were essentially silenced. We were asked to give undertakings not to speak to anyone. We weren’t kept in the loop as to what was happening.”
A tribunal dismissed the other women’s complaints but said Sidhu’s conduct toward the third woman, known as Ella, was “seriously reprehensible” and would shock the public.
Ella was 19 when she met Sidhu, who was in his early 50s. They started talking on LinkedIn, and he later requested sexually explicit videos and messages.
She described him as “predatory”.
A lawyer for Jo Sidhu said he would appeal the disbarment. “We have not had sight of this review [by Harman] and cannot comment properly on limited selected extracts.
“The suggestions that Mr Sidhu’s behaviour was ‘coercive’ and ‘predatory’ has been something the tribunal carefully considered and rejected.
“The tribunal also expressed concern about such descriptions being made, so we would be highly surprised if the review panel reached such a conclusion, as it would contradict previous tribunal findings.”
The Bar Standards Board said it took such allegations seriously:
“We understand that timeliness is important to maintain public and professional confidence.
“However, we must deal fairly and patiently with barristers’ various challenges to the process.”
It added that it was “actively exploring” ways to better support victims and accepted that “a change in culture at the Bar is needed.”
The Harman report warns that Jo Sidhu’s case is not isolated.
One junior barrister said she was offered funding for her legal training in exchange for sex. Another said a male colleague groped her repeatedly during a social event.
Jenns hopes that speaking out will prompt change, adding:
“Hopefully this will be a moment of reckoning for the profession. And I think there needs to be a very serious moment of introspection.”
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