The Respondent was a criminal defence solicitor and faced two allegations concerning a conflict of interest in his representation of Person A and Person B. This conduct came to the attention of the SRA following a report made by Thames Valley Police on 14 November 2022.
The subsequent allegations arose from the Respondent’s representation of Person B, who had been charged with offences that included an assault on his partner Person A. Despite Person A being both a past and continuing client of the Respondent in unrelated criminal matters, the Respondent appeared on behalf of Person B in those proceedings. The Tribunal found that the Respondent acted despite having known or ought to have known, that a conflict of interest or a significant risk of a conflict of interest existed.

The conflict was further compounded when, on 3 February 2022, one day before Person B’s trial, when the Respondent provided legal advice to Person A regarding a witness summons requiring her to attend court to give evidence.

The allegations were found proved as the Tribunal held that the Respondent, a senior practitioner, had failed to identify and respond appropriately to an obvious and serious conflict of interest. A suspension of two months was imposed to mark the seriousness of the misconduct