A public access barrister has been handed a permanent ban from taking on direct access work after his fifth appearance at a disciplinary tribunal.

In its latest finding, the Bar Tribunals and Adjudication Service (BTAS) said London practitioner Oliver White had assisted a lay client to prepare an appeal when he was already serving a ban from direct access work. White was also fined £4,000.

It is the sixth time White has been handed a suspension order.

In the latest case he was also found to have failed to provide the Bar Standards Board with information it requested regarding a complaint made by a lay client.

In June last year, the BTAS imposed two suspension orders against the barrister, running concurrently with an order handed down the previous month. In 2015 two other rulings against him led to a £3,000 charge and a six-month ban from public access work.

Ruling on the the latest case, the tribunal found that White was ‘experienced in the law’ and could and should have taken steps to ensure that he did not breach the terms of his suspension. It added that his previous record of disciplinary sanctions showed he had ‘already received a warning shot’.

The tribunal said it had taken into account White’s personal problems including a relationship breakdown and ‘medical and psychological difficulties’.

White, who previously practised at Gray’s Inn Square, was called to the bar in 2001.