A FORMER Teignmouth barrister turned hotelier has been banned from practising as a lawyer.

Shirley Bothroyd, 64, has been disbarred from the profession by the Bar Standards Board at a hearing in central London. 

Ms Bothroyd bought the 18-bedroom seafront Bay Hotel 10 years ago but it was shut down in 2017 after a number of incidents.

She admitted criminal charges of violence and was jailed for 22 weeks. 

At the BSB hearing, she was also ordered to pay £2,128 in costs. 

Ms Bothroyd, who now lives in Paignton, did not attend the hearing and wrote a letter saying she wished to resign from the profession in any event.

Rachael Gourley, for the Bar Standards Board, said: ‘There has been a very considerable period where Ms Bothroyd hasn’t engaged with the BSB and these proceedings.’

She was accused of diminishing the trust and confidence placed in the legal profession by the public; failing to report her conviction to the BSB and failing to co-operate with the regulator.

The charges were found proved and Ms Bothroyd was disbarred for ‘repeated offences of violence and threats of harm that led to terms of imprisonment or a hospital order’.