A lawyer feared being attacked and killed by a judge’s former partner during an alleged two-year harassment campaign, a court has heard.
Camilla Burton-Baddeley, a partner at Stowe Family Law, said she was bombarded with emails and messages from William Francis after she had acted for him in legal proceedings.
Francis hired Stowe for a legal fight with his former partner, barrister turned judge Sarah Johnston, but relations with his lawyers turned sour after a court defeat, City of London magistrates court heard.
It is alleged Francis targeted Ms Burton-Baddeley on her personal Facebook account, sent “threatening” emails and texts, and he is also accused of trying to smear her professional reputation.
Describing his messages, the lawyer said: “I genuinely believed he was going to attack me because of the way he was behaving and the hatred he had, or still has to this day.”
In one of the messages, Francis allegedly wrote: “Watch your house of cards crumble”, adding: “I can’t sit back and let you…get away with this. You will never win.”
Ms Burton-Baddeley recalled a message on her Facebook account which read: “You are quite a piece of work Camilla, you really are.”
She told the court: “I genuinely thought he was going to kill me. I thought this man is unhinged and he is going to come after me.”
The court heard Ms Johnston is a barrister who recently became a judge, and Francis is said to have believed in a “conspiracy theory that all legal professionals were against him and out to get him”.
In a text, Francis alleged to have told Ms Burton-Baddeley “you are a truly nasty person” and suggested that “you and the barristers working behind my back on this will be held accountable”.
“I was absolutely terrified”, she said. “I was just so scared.”
The court heard Francis was a client of the law firm in late 2020, and Ms Burton-Baddeley returned after the Christmas break to a “barrage” of messages from him.
The law firm ended their relationship with Francis, but his messages and texts are said to have continued until December 2022.
In one instance, Francis is accused of sent a message to the law firm while using Ms Burton-Baddeley's personal email address as the contact.
In cross-examination, the lawyer was accused of not following Francis’ instruction correctly while he was her client, a suggestion she rejected.
“He had an inability to listen to the advice he was paying for and respect the process”, she said.
The court heard Francis denies making some of the contacts which form part of the criminal allegation, and he denies actions he did take amount to harassment.
In a break in the court hearing, he loudly complained that the trial was a “charade” and suggested it did not matter what evidence or arguments he put forward.
Francis, who was living in Manchester but now resides in Crouch End, north London, denies harassment without violence.
The trial continues.
