The Respondent, a solicitor of 22 years’ standing, was found to have acted dishonestly by signing a deed as witness to a signature she had not witnessed. The Tribunal accepted she had not intended to cause harm and had acted under significant personal and professional pressure but concluded that ordinary decent people would regard her conduct as dishonest. Allegation 1.1 was proved, but allegations 1.2 and 1.3 were not proved.

The Tribunal found that exceptional circumstances existed such that strike-off would be disproportionate, given that the dishonesty was spontaneous, isolated, caused no significant harm, and was accompanied by strong mitigation including an unblemished career, voluntary disclosure, and genuine remorse.