How Ayesha Smart became Britain's youngest minority ethnic Crown Court judge

Today her skilled advocacy, often on behalf of victims of sexual offences and modern slavery, has helped her become a powerful role model.

The Yorkshire-based barrister is believed to have become the youngest Black and minority ethnic Crown Court judge in Britain. After a lengthy process of exams, interviews and approval from the King, the 34-year-old has been selected to sit as a recorder in Crown Courts across the North East England.

“It is a really positive step towards increasing diversity amongst the judiciary and inspiring people from all backgrounds to pursue a judicial career,’ she said.

“We want the composition of judiciary to reflect the community and modern society we live in, and currently it doesn’t quite cut it, which is reflected in the most recent judicial diversity statistics.”

“The appointment also helps in dispelling the myth that judges have to be more senior, come from a privileged background or have gone to Oxbridge. I hope that people will be encouraged to apply when they feel ready to make that next step.”

Ms Smart took a somewhat unconventional route into the legal profession. She worked as a pathologist at Harrogate District Hospital before converting to law and securing a pupillage. She was called to the bar in 2014 and joined Exchange Chambers in Leeds last month, specialising in crime, regulatory and clinical negligence. Her new position as recorder will see her sitting for a minimum of 30 days a year.

Ms Smart’s mother was from Sri Lanka and her father was raised in South Africa, and they met while studying at Lancaster University.

"I was born in Northampton and the family moved to Harrogate when I was 14 and I have stayed in Yorkshire ever since,’’ Ms Smart said.

"All my A levels were in science-based subjects and I originally planned to be a doctor. I particularly wanted to work as a missionary doctor in a developing nation, as a number of my relatives were doctors and also returned to Sri Lanka to do this.

"Over time, I found myself gravitating towards the law,’’ she said. "However, my background in medical science has given me a good grounding and helped me to approach the law in a scientific way.

"I'm good at weighing up different strands of evidence; I’ve never been good at arguing for the sake of arguing. I believe this scientific approach has made my submissions and written work more focused.

"When I converted to law becoming a judge was my ultimate aim.”

Her scientific background has proved to be invaluable in recent years.

She recalled: "A key stage in my career development came when a solicitor had enough confidence in me to instruct me as sole defence counsel in a murder case; the evidence in the case was mainly expert scientific, so this played to my strengths.

"Recently, I have been involved in cases relating to historic sexual offences, serious crime and modern slavery.

"People are becoming more alert to the growing number of modern slavery cases,’’ she added.

"In the courts we find a lot of the victims of modern slavery are Albanians and Vietnamese, who have been trafficked into the country to tend to cannabis farms.

"The prosecution of historic sexual offences has also been supported by advances in terms of DNA technology, which has proved useful in prosecuting cases of 'stranger' rape.”

She hopes that, over time, the judiciary will reflect the diversity of British society.

She added: "At the moment, the composition of the judiciary is still largely white (in April 2022, for example, just 5 per cent of judges were from Asian backgrounds).

"I didn't have any role models in the legal sector growing up. My family are largely engineers, mathematicians and doctors.

"I'm hoping that people seeing somebody of mixed race occupying this role will be inspiring in itself. In the longer term, I would love to go to the Commonwealth countries and help with judicial training.”

Ms Smart also hopes to encourage young people from a wide range of backgrounds in Yorkshire to take up careers in the law.

She said: "There are a number of targeted diversity schemes to encourage more people from minority groups to take up careers in the legal sector.

"There is a scheme called SPRUCE (Student Pre-University Court Exposure) in Bradford which encourages students to visit courts and learn about the legal system.

"I would love to get involved in a similar scheme at Leeds Crown Court where young people from a diverse range of backgrounds can spend a couple of days with practitioners in a court room environment and gain an insight into the criminal justice system, the role of barristers and advocacy, such as the plea in mitigation process.

"Chambers now tend to 'blind sift' pupillage applications prior to the interview phase. which may well be to reduce the risk of unconscious bias affecting their decisions.

"Ultimately, every candidate has to be considered on merit,’’ she said.

"When I have sat on the pupillage committees and have assessed the written applications, I don't for example tend to view a First from Oxbridge as superior to a First from a Russell Group university."

She said: “I remember my mum commenting when I got the appointment that it made her family’s move from Sri Lanka to the UK all worthwhile. It’s really positive to showcase that people of colour and women can be just as successful as their white or male counterparts.”