18 March 2023 , 22:48
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A barrister has pleaded guilty to encouraging a client to supply Class A drugs after police found messages he sent to a suspected dealer on a phone.
A Met Police investigation into Henry Hendron, 42 - who has worked for a former government minister and other famous clients - also found evidence from 2020 that he was buying drugs from a second client.
He pleaded guilty to three counts of intentionally encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence and one count of possessing Class A drugs at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday, and was remanded in custody.
He is expected to be sentenced on April 17.
Detective Inspector Lewis Sanderson of the London force said: ”At the time of his arrest Hendron was a serving barrister. The behaviour displayed by Hendron, while acting for the Bar, was unacceptable, unethical and illegal.
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”Actions like his can tarnish the reputation of all those involved in the criminal justice system and the whole team were determined to bring him to account. As a result of the hard work and thorough investigation, Hendron has been now been made to face the consequences of his actions.”
Former radio producer Alexander Parkin was involved in a previous drugs case with Henry Hendron (Central News)Prosecutor Tom Broomfield told a previous hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court that the charges related to Hendron “encouraging the supply of Class A, crystal methamphetamine, and Class C, GBL, drugs from a former client of Mr Hendron”.
Since being called to the Bar in 2006, Hendron, from Soho, Central London, has had several well-known clients, including Conservative MP Nadine Dorries and the Earl of Cardigan.
But he was suspended by the Bar Standards Board for three years in 2016 after admitting buying £1,000 worth of M-cat or Meow Meow and GBL from former BBC radio producer Alex Parkin.
He was sentenced to 140 hours of unpaid work at the Old Bailey, while Parkin was sentenced to 200 hours.
The case followed the death of Hendron's boyfriend, Miguel Jimenez, 18, who was found dead at their flat in the City of London.
Mr Jimenez had taken 'chemsex' party drugs.