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Blind student

becomes lawyer

LONDON: A 23-year-old Briton has become the first blind student to complete training to become a barrister after spending 10 months memorising pages of legal judgements and precedents, the Times reported Saturday.

Lee Blakey, from Burnley in northwest England, fulfilled his ambition to become a barrister on Friday despite suddenly losing his sight over two years ago, the paper said.

A team of 15 fellow students read to Blakey, who studied until 2:00 a.m. on most weekdays, memorising the page references, legal precedence and past case law he needed to pass the oral exams at the Inns of Court law school where he was a student.

Blakey will now work as a trainee lawyer at a barrister's chambers in Preston, near his home town, according to the Times.-AFP