Amagistrate who made a ‘diminishing’ comment about a member of court staff’s religious observance has been issued with formal advice for misconduct.

A complaint was made by court staff that Gillian Sebright had, during a hearing in open court, ‘spoken to them and to another member of staff in an inappropriate and accusatory tone’.

A spokesperson for the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office said: ‘It was also alleged that Ms Sebright made an insensitive and diminishing remark when the complainant expressed concerns that the court may not finish on time due to management of the court list, and that they wished to finish on time to enable the observance of their religious beliefs.’

In Sebright’s representations to the JCIO, she said she had ‘experienced some frustrations due to a number of events which occurred in court’. Sebright apologised and accepted her actions had ‘fallen below the high standards expected of a judicial office holder’.