The Respondent, a solicitor admitted in 2009, appeared before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal having accumulated three drink-driving convictions between 2017 and 2020, the last of which was committed whilst subject to a court-imposed disqualification and was accompanied by charges of driving without insurance and possession of cocaine. He subsequently received an adult conditional caution for drunk and disorderly behaviour in December 2023. Compounding the criminal conduct was a failure to report any of these matters to the SRA for the better part of seven years. All allegations were admitted in full.

In mitigation, the Tribunal heard expert psychiatric evidence confirming that the Respondent had been physically and psychologically dependent on alcohol throughout the relevant period, driven by a combination of serious personal and occupational pressures. He had been abstinent since December 2023 and was actively engaged with Alcoholics Anonymous. The Tribunal acknowledged that a suspension would have been an entirely defensible outcome, but, having assessed the Respondent directly and being satisfied as to the sincerity of his recovery and remorse, it imposed a fine of £15,000, together with agreed costs of £10,688.