Top barrister killed in Porsche 'hit-and-run' after leaving lawyers' battle of the bands pub gig

Tragedy: friends and colleagues described David Batcup as “one of the kindest men you could hope to meet”
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A top barrister was knocked down and killed in a suspected hit and run crash moments after leaving a charity concert organised by London’s biggest legal firms.

David Batcup, 64, was hit by a white Porsche 911 as he crossed a junction in Balham, south London.

Witnesses said he was thrown 20ft along the road after being struck on Bedford Hill on Tuesday evening.

It is understood he had just left a Law Rocks battle-of-the bands event at the Bedford pub where staff from firms including Harbottle and Lewis, Mishcon de Reya and 1ITL performed to raise money for charity.

He had been crossing the road with a friend when he was hit at 10.18pm.

Victim: senior Barrister David Batcup, 64

Paramedics battled unsuccessfully for 30 minutes to save his life before pronouncing him dead at the scene.

A white Porsche which had not been reported lost or stolen was found abandoned nearby.

Mr Batcup had worked for over 35 years in criminal courts on high profile cases involving murder, money laundering, large scale drug importations and historic sexual abuse.

Friends and colleagues today called his death a “senseless tragedy”.

A spokesman for Mr Batcup’s chambers, Charter Chambers, said: “He had so much more to give. He was a committed family man, devoted to his wife Janet and to his daughter Rebecca of whom he was immensely proud, especially as she begins her adult life at university.

"We feel their loss keenly and our thoughts and sympathy are with them at this terrible time.”

Mr Batcup, who graduated from University College London, was called to the Bar by Gray’s Inn in 1974.

The became head of chambers before retiring that position in 2000, when he was appointed as a part-time judge in the Crown Court.

His chambers said he would be remembered as a “warm, modest, loyal, open and big-hearted family man” and for his “cheerful and optimistic outlook on all things”.

It added: “Always a kind and generous man, he nurtured many junior barristers through pupillage and into practice...He had a particular strength in that he was genuinely interested in everyone he met, he never forgot anyone, even those of brief acquaintance.

“It was a knack that he had of making everyone seem important to him, as they were. But David was also hugely important to us and we shall miss him terribly.”

Mukul Chawla QC said: “David was quite one of the kindest men you could hope to meet and excellent in court. He will be very sorely missed,”

Michael Neofytou called him “one of the kindest, intelligent and most cheerful men one could ever have the pleasure of meeting”.

Zizou Hammoud 46, the owner of nearby Tagine restaurant in Balham, said tearful onlookers rushed to his aid after the crash.

He said: “A man who was medically trained got him into the recovery position. A woman who was his friend was kneeling by him holding him, crying and talking to him. She was very distressed. I called the ambulance which came straight away.

“They were working on him in the middle of the street.”

Officers from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit at Merton are appealing for witnesses on 020 8543 5157.

A 51-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and failing to stop at the scene of a collision.

He was bailed last night until a date in October.

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