Asolicitor who denies stalking told a magistrates' court yesterday that his alleged victim initiated physical sexual contact in the lifts of the Royal Courts of Justice.
Andrew Jonathan Milne, 63, who qualified in 1986 and has held ‘continuous and consecutive' practising certificates since then, appeared at Stratford, London, where he denies a single offence of stalking without fear.
In his evidence in chief, Milne said he first became aware of the complainant, court blogger Daniel Cloake, in ‘2018 or 2019’ adding: ‘Whenever I went to court for myself or for clients, he seemed to be there attending the hearing.'
Asked about a complaint made to the Solicitors Regulation Authority, Milne said: ‘[The SRA] have a vetting out procedure where people’s potential complaints were not eligible to go forward. I found it surprising it was not vetted out. In my opinion, it never should have been put to me.