Dudley Richard Owen-Thomas

Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision

Sole practitioner acting as Co-Attorney and Sole Executor for Mrs B appropriated £384,982.37 of client money for personal tax and a Spanish property transaction, used £5,000 of another client's funds for personal tax, made improper transfers between client ledgers, misused funds of Dr LW (leaving over £100,000 unsecured and unpaid), and overcharged the estate nearly twice the reasonable amount. The Tribunal found all allegations proved, including express dishonesty under the Twinsectra test, both per client and as a general pattern. Respondent struck off and ordered to pay costs of £16,750 with a £2,500 interim payment.

Duties found breached:

• No improper communication with the court
• Honesty
• Integrity
• No own-interest conflict
• No conflict between current clients
• No improper use of client money
• Good faith and courtesy to colleagues

Aggravating factors:

• Blatant abuse of position of trust as Co-Attorney and Sole Executor
• Vulnerable/deceased client's estate exploited
• Large sums appropriated (£384,982.37) plus £5,000 and over £100,000 still outstanding to Dr LW
• No security or written agreements for 'loans'
• Not truthful with the Investigation Officer
• Overcharging nearly twice the maximum reasonable amount
• Attempted to avoid strike-off via Regulatory Settlement Agreement

Mitigating factors:

• Repaid some of the monies with interest
• Admitted all allegations except dishonesty