Andrew Tate: who is the West Midlands lawyer representing the controversial influencer?

A lawyer from the West Midlands has been representing the social media influencer Andrew Tate in his high-profile court case in Romania.

Tate and his brother have been detained in the south-eastern European country as part of a human trafficking and rape investigation. The 36-year-old British-US citizen, who has amassed 4.4 million followers on Twitter, was detained on December 29 north of the capital Bucharest along with his brother Tristan.

Tate and his brother are currently in 30-day custody in Romania, while police investigate the allegations. Former Worcester schoolboy Andrew Ford represented Tate at his most recent court hearing where his latest appeal against assest seizures was rejected.

But who exactly is Andrew Ford the high-flying lawyer from the West Midlands?

Ford grew up in Worcester and went to the Royal Grammar School in the city.

A report by the Worcester News revealed that Ford became a partner at the prestigious Holborn Adams Solicitors when he was just 31 years old.

The company’s website say his clients include ‘professional sportspeople, medical professionals, and those of high net-worth.’

He studied law at Cardiff University and reportedly splits his work time between the company’s offices in Stratford-upon-Avon and London, although he continues to live in his hometown of Worcester.

He also plays cricket for the Barnards Green Cricket club in Malvern.

What has happened to Andrew Tate?

Tate is an American-British influencer and former professional kickboxer who rose to fame as an internet personality spreading misogynistic and far-right ideology.

He started training in boxing and martial arts in 2005 and in 2008 was ranked in the British top 10 in the light-heavyweight category by the International Sport Kickboxing Association (ISKA).

Tate won his first ISKA world title in 2011 in a match against Jean-Luc Benoit. The following year, Tate lost the Enfusion championship tournament to Franci Grajs before going on to win his second ISKA world title in 2013 against Vincent Petitjean. He has since retired from kickboxing.

He started gaining attention online in around the middle of 2022, and was initially known amongst far-right circles through his appearances on shows like Alex Jones’ InfoWars.

Tate has been repeatedly banned from social media, including being permanently banned from Facebook and Instagram. Parent company Meta said that Tate has violated their policy on “dangerous organisations and individuals”.

He has also been removed from TikTok, with the platform explaining that he violated its policies on “content that attacks, threatens, incites violence against, or otherwise dehumanises an individual or group”.

He has also been banned from YouTube for similar reasons, with the company citing violations against hate speech and Covid-19 misinformation.

Now, Romanian authorities have detained the social media influencer as part of a rape and human trafficking investigation.

Greta Thunberg Twitter exchange

Prior to his arrest, Tate was in the headlines after a Twitter exchange with climate activist Greta Thunburg.

On Tuesday (27 December), Tate tagged Thunberg in a tweet attempting to boast about his excessive number of cars and “enormous emissions”.

Alongside a picture of himself filling up his Bugatti at a fuel pump, Tate wrote: “Hello @GretaThunberg. I have 33 cars. My Bugatti has a w16 8.0L quad turbo. My TWO Ferrari 812 competizione have 6.5L v12s. This is just the start. Please provide your email address so I can send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions.”

Thunberg responded by quote tweeting Tate’s original tweet, and added: “Yes, please do enlighten me. Email me at [email protected].”

The young activist was applauded online for her reply.