_{'Don't worry about those two, ma’am, as long as you consent to a cavity search you'll be fine.'}

A solicitor has allegedly been assaulted by court security officers, leading to a threat to boycott the court unless the officers are suspended.

The unidentified lawyer was attending Stratford Magistrates Court as a duty solicitor on Wednesday when he stepped outside for a cigarette.

When he tried to reenter the building, the security officers began by patting him down, said criminal defence solicitor Sebah Naz Baig, whose barrister allegedly witnessed the incident.

The lawyer complied, but then the overzealous officers “insisted” he remove his shoes as well.

“He told them they were being ridiculous as they had searched him in the morning and could see he has only stepped outside for a smoke”, said Baig.

The guards were unmoved and “refused to let him in the building”, but a legal advisor “arranged for him to enter through another entrance”, said Baig.

When the officers found out, they went ballistic and “physically dragged him out” just before his client’s hearing in the youth court.

The solicitor was allegedly gasping, “I can’t breathe”, because there were “so many security officers on top of him”.

When members of a Youth Offending Team tried to pull the officers off him, they began fighting them as well, said sources, hurting a female YOT member in the process. The police were then called and intervened in the melee, RollOnFriday understands.

In an open letter to the HMCTS, the London Criminal Courts Solicitors’ Association has demanded the “immediate suspension from duty” of all the security officers involved in the “serious incident” pending a full investigation.

“Based on the reports we have received, we are seriously concerned and appalled at the alleged behaviour of the security officers involved”, said LCCSA President Edward Jones.

“Given the seriousness of the alleged incident and the already documented history of complaints against security staff at Stratford Magistrates' Court (which are already the subject of an official complaint by this association), we have no confidence at the moment that those tasked with ensuring the safety of our members and colleagues at this court are capable of doing so”, he said.

In April, criminal defence solicitor Katie McFadden triggered an outpouring of complaints about the conduct of the court's security officers when she posted on X about her experiences being searched by them.

McFadden said she had complained to HMCTS about a search three months ago which “included feeling all of the way under my dress up to my groin”.

The solicitor said she hadn’t received a satisfactory response from HMCTS apart from “’they are the policies, suck it up’ (not a direct quote)”.

Because of that experience, when she attended the court again in April she agreed to a search of her bag, coat and pockets, but declined a pat down.

The security officers refused to let her through, and also refused to let her raise the issue with the judge, the list caller, or the court manager, she said.

McFadden decided to subject herself to a search because she couldn’t leave her clients in the lurch, but her attempt to limit how invasive it was were fruitless, she said.

“I asked that the search be conducted only over my clothes. I also explained that it be explained to me what was about to be done, before it was done. Both of these requests were roundly ignored”, she said on X.

“Fortunately (?) this time the search only went as high under my dress as the middle of my inner thigh”, she said. “I asked again that I please not be touched under my clothes. I was ignored”.

The LCCSA has threatened to boycott the court, telling HMTCS, “Should these security officers continue to work at this court, we may recommend to our members that they do not attend Stratford Magistrates' Court until this situation has been resolved”.

A HMCTS spokesperson said, “These are serious complaints and we are urgently investigating them as a matter of priority. It would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage. Our security measures are designed to protect the safety of all court users within our premises and remain under constant review. They are put in place in consultation with judiciary and the police”.

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