A BRILLIANT barrister who groped a 19-year-old girl at his chambers has been jailed for three months.

Fauz Khan, 34, of Adelaide Terrace, Blackburn, appeared before Warrington Crown Court to be re-sentenced after failing in an appeal against conviction.

The court heard his 15-year career was in ruins and he had spent his life savings meeting legal costs of £37,000.

Judge Stephen Clark said when a man in his position abused a decent young woman who had invested her trust in him, custody was the only appropriate sentence.

Khan will now be barred from working as a barrister.

He was originally charged with indecently assaulting the girl at the Central Chambers in Manchester where he used to work.

She was the girlfriend of a client and he indecently assaulted her during an interview.

Michael Cogan, defending, said his client was terrified at the prospect of prison. He had served four days before being released pending his appeal, during which he had been abused and threatened by other prisoners and had to be moved to another wing.

Khan's wife was expecting their first child in May and was standing by him.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.