Gavin Clarke

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

Between February and August 2022, the respondent, who knew his practising certificate had been revoked on 31 January 2022 and that he was unauthorised, held himself out as a solicitor to a member of the public (Person A) to conduct her partner's criminal appeal. He obtained £4,525 from Person A (paid into his personal account), falsely claimed to have instructed a (non-existent) barrister and to have lodged an appeal, did no genuine work, failed to return the funds, and held client money personally. The Tribunal found all four allegations proved, found express dishonesty (Ivey test) and a serious lack of integrity, and found no exceptional circumstances to avoid strike-off. He was struck off the Roll. No order as to costs was made due to his impecuniosity.

Duties found breached:

• Non-discriminatory acceptance and cab-rank
• No conflict between current clients
• Good faith and courtesy to colleagues

Aggravating factors:

• Deliberate and sustained dishonesty over several months
• Financial exploitation of a vulnerable client
• Misuse of professional status
• Made false representations about instructing counsel and lodging an appeal
• Deliberate attempt to frustrate regulatory oversight / failure to cooperate with the SRA

Mitigating factors:

• Attended hearing and made full, unequivocal admissions
• Expressed genuine remorse and insight
• Misconduct occurred during period of significant personal and professional difficulty including homelessness, serious health problems and effects of national lockdown
• Completed rehabilitation programme and maintained stability since early 2024
• Undertakes voluntary work for charity; provided a character reference
• Expressed intention to make restitution of £4,525
• No previous disciplinary findings