Anne Bampton

Bampton was admitted as a legal practitioner in 1985. In 2006 she was appointed a Master of the Supreme Court. In February 2010 Bampton was appointed a judge of the District Court.[1]

On Saturday 30 November 2013, shortly after Bampton's appointment to the Supreme Court, she was driving after consuming alcohol when she hit and injured a cyclist at Glenside. A breath test indicated that Bampton had a blood alcohol content of 0.121%, a category 2 offence,[4] and was immediately disqualified from driving for six months.[5] Bampton pleaded guilty to driving with excess blood alcohol and driving without due care, was fined $1,300, plus court costs of $260 and disqualified from driving for a further eight months and 14 days.[6]

Bampton was the fourth Australian judge to commit a drink driving offense, after District Court (SA) judge Neal Hume (2002),[5] Supreme Court (NSW) judge Jeff Shaw (2004),[7] and acting Judge of Appeal (NSW) Roderick Howie (2011).[8] Hume and Shaw resigned their commissions while Howie's acting commission was allowed to lapse. In South Australia a judge can only be removed by the Governor upon the address of both Houses of the Parliament.[9][10] Bampton did not resign nor did the Parliament seek her removal. The Chief Justice Chris Kourakis decided that for twelve months Bampton would not be allocated to cases involving a driving offence nor where an offender was "materially affected by alcohol".[6] Subsequently NSW Court of Appeal Judge Anthony Meagher was found to be driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.053%, however he too remained on the bench.[11]