A SOLICITOR faces a further investigation after she was fined £1,500 for being in contempt of court by a High Court judge.

Lawyer Miss Bushra Anwar was accused of "disgraceful behaviour" by the judge, Mr Justice Sachs, who ordered that a copy of his ruling be sent to the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors.

The Blackburn-based lawyer - the first Asian woman in East Lancashire to have her own legal practice - was also ordered to pay damages of £1,000 to Mr Mohammed Afzal for loss of his reputation, as well as a further £57 for damages to his property and part of his legal fees.

Sitting at the High Court in Manchester, Mr Sachs told Miss Anwar that it would be "outrageous" if she was to "escape the consequences of her disgraceful behaviour".

"This was a very, very serious contempt indeed," he said.

Miss Anwar was fined after a complex case concerning a rare court order which she had obtained against Mr Afzal, of Granville Road, Blackburn. The court order, called an Anton Pillar order, allowed Miss Anwar to search his home and seize any documents and property she wanted.

Anwar, a single mother-of-two, claimed that Mr Afzal had failed to pay a bill of over £3,000 for her legal services.

The court earlier heard that documents were seized which, Miss Anwar claimed, suggested Mr Afzal was involved in a social security fraud. However, Mr Afzal denied the claims and investigations by Blackburn CID have not led to any charges.

Judge Sachs added that Anwar had acted improperly in obtaining the order in the first place and had then told the Lancashire Evening Telegraph about information she had obtained under the order, despite it being a contempt of court to disclose any details.

Anwar's former employee, Carole McIlwaine had earlier told the court that Anwar had asked her to take the blame for leaking the story to the Press.

Judge Sachs said: "I accept without hesitation her (Miss McIlwaine's) evidence. This further demonstrates the utter disregard the plaintiff (Miss Anwar) had to her obligations under the order and to the truth."

A spokeswoman for the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors, an independent body which investigates complaints against solicitors, said they were waiting to receive a transcript of the case.

If the OSS decides the case is sufficiently serious, it can then be referred to the Solicitors' Disciplinary Tribunal and, in the worst case, Miss Anwar could be struck off.

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