A UK-based Nigerian lawyer, Emmanuel Oduntan, faced a disciplinary panel and was slapped with a £5,000 fine, reduced to £2,500, for concealing multiple past criminal convictions and failing to report them to the relevant regulatory body.

A document seen by the Peoples Gazette shows that the Bar Standards Board of England and Wales, the regulatory body for lawyers in England and Wales, fined Mr Oduntan £ 2,500 on June 26, 2026, for professional misconduct and violating its code of conduct.

Mr Oduntan, who was called to the Bar in 2002, was charged with six counts of professional misconduct, bordering on failure to disclose his past criminal convictions – “driving a motor vehicle with excess alcohol” in 2004, 2006 and 2010. 

According to the document, the BSB disciplinary panel, during investigations, found out that Mr Oduntan, on February 15, 2010, appeared before Camberwell Green Magistrates’ Court and was convicted of driving a motor vehicle with excess alcohol contrary to section 5(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988, in respect of an offence committed on 13 February 2010. 

“This conviction was not reported to the BSB at the time,” the document stated, adding that Mr Oduntan later self-reported the 2010 conviction to the BSB on 24 November 2025, almost 15 years after his conviction.

Further investigations into Mr Oduntan’s disclosure certificate showed he had “two further drink driving convictions, recorded in 2004 and 2006 respectively. Neither conviction had been reported to the BSB.”

After investigations, the panel first fined Mr Oduntan £5,000 in light of the multiple convictions and the lengthy failure to inform the BSB’s disciplinary panel. 

However, the panel reduced the fine to £2,500 after investigations established evidence of remorse on Mr Oduntan’s part.

The disciplinary panel stated that Mr Oduntan cooperated with investigations; he had, according to him, abstained from alcohol and taken steps to address the issue, now making a contribution to the community, and 16 years had passed without further incident.

Mr Oduntan’s fine was affirmed as “proportionate” and in the public interest by the BSB disciplinary panel, adding “whilst not intending to be punitive, this would send a clear message to the profession and the public that this type of conduct by a Barrister is not acceptable.”