Rastafarian lawyer's prosecution anger

A well known Birmingham lawyer has accused the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) of racism in bringing him to trial over a charge that he was cleared of. Jeffrey Atkinson is well known locally, particularly in the Handsworth and Lozell districts where he has built up a reputation of defending people caught up in the city's gun and gang territories.

Growing up in Birmingham, being a Rastafarian and lawyer, has been a challenge due to the reaction of the courts to him.

He claims in the past that court officials found his appearance hard to accept: "I think the most important point was the destruction of the racial stereotypes," he said.


"The reaction I got from the courts was amazing. I would go into court and I would have various officials in the court telling me that I was standing in the wrong place... and I should have been where the defendants were and these were court officials."


Atkinson is now taking action against the CPS and they have issued a strong defence of their actions saying: "The decision to prosecute Mr Atkinson was not motivated by his ethnicity, religion or profession, but was based entirely upon an objective assessment of the evidence available."

His lawyer Errol Robinson disagrees pointing out that: "It is difficult to imagine that a white solicitor faced with the sort of allegations that were here would have been prosecuted against the very poor evidence that was presented by the Crown Prosecution Service."