A senior barrister has been suspended after asking a teenage pupil what her bra size was and telling her to 'wear skirts and heels instead of trousers'.
Robert Kearney was in his late 40s when he made a series of 'sleazy' comments to the aspiring lawyer who was still a university student at the time.
The married lawyer also sniffed the 19-year-old's neck while they were in a lift together and asked what perfume she was wearing, a disciplinary hearing was told.
But when the woman complained about his behaviour to her family, her mother and boyfriend both told her not to make a fuss for fear of harming her career.
Senior barrister Robert Kearney has been suspended after asking a teenage pupil what her bra size was and telling her to 'wear skirts and heels instead of trousers'
The judgement in the case condemned Mr Kearney's 'totally inappropriate' behaviour, suspending him from the profession for six months.
It also shed a light on what is called the 'unedifying banter' and 'gallows humour' prevalent among criminal barristers.
The Bar Tribunals and Adjudication Service hearing was told the woman - identified only as Person A - had been studying law at Manchester University when she started a 'mini pupillage' with Mr Kearney in January 2015.
The student - who has family connections to the legal profession - met him while she was working as a waitress in the same building as his Lincoln House chambers in the city and he had given her his card.
The hearing was told that during the course of three days with Mr Kearney, the barrister of 25 years made a number of remarks which made the teenager uncomfortable.
The woman claimed Mr Kearney told her 'that eating pineapple makes semen taste better' and asked her 'if she had ever had sex in her parents' house and the details about it'
It was heard several of the comments included grim and ironic jokes, known as 'gallows humour' in the law profession.
'She is familiar with the unedifying banter that was part of the way of life in the criminal bar,' the panel's judgement observed.
'She at least understood that was part of the way of life, whether good or bad, and said she understood the crude humour of barristers.
'She said she had been around it all of her life, but it had never caused her to feel unsafe.'
The woman claimed Mr Kearney told her 'that eating pineapple makes semen taste better' and asked her 'if she had ever had sex in her parents' house and the details about it'.
While in a robing room she also said he told her 'she should wear skirts and heels instead of trousers and asked her what her bra size was'.
