Charles Michael Stevens

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

The Respondent, a solicitor acting for the buyer in a £6.5m property purchase, gave misleading information to the seller's solicitor that he was/would be in receipt of the £650,000 deposit when he had not received it (found reckless), failed to perform an undertaking to transfer the deposit and send the exchanged contract by 4 July 2022, and on 16 September 2022 attempted to prevent the seller's solicitor and client from reporting his conduct to the SRA by making settlement conditional on no report being made. All allegations were proved (admitted). The dishonesty allegation (Principle 4) was withdrawn; the Tribunal found serious lack of integrity coupled with high-order recklessness. Mitigation (unblemished record, remorse, cooperation, personal difficulties, character references, health and financial problems) did not outweigh the seriousness. The Respondent was struck off. No order for costs was made (applying Barnes v SRA) due to his impecuniosity, despite agreed costs of £25,000.

Duties found breached:

• Honour professional undertakings
• Integrity
• No taking unfair advantage
• Not mislead third parties or opponents
• Report serious misconduct of others
• Uphold public trust in the profession

Aggravating factors:

• Series of connected failures, not an isolated incident; a pattern of behaviour
• Reckless misrepresentation of a high order
• Conduct was planned and considered, not spontaneous (the September email)
• Failed to self-report and took active steps to prevent reporting to the SRA - particularly egregious
• Knew or ought to have known conduct breached obligations to protect the public and reputation of the profession
• Potential financial rewards may have influenced his decision-making

Mitigating factors:

• Previously unblemished regulatory record
• Genuine insight and remorse; sincere apology
• Full cooperation with the SRA investigation and Tribunal
• Personal difficulties (grandmother's terminal illness)
• Four character references attesting to good qualities
• Ongoing serious health issues and precarious financial position