Adrian Robert Berkeley

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

Adrian Berkeley, a non-practising solicitor, was found to have sent a misleading email on 27 December 2023 to Mr G and Mr N containing false statements while presenting himself as a solicitor and quoting his SRA number, in an attempt to take unfair advantage of vulnerable Ms G's sons. He was also convicted of stalking Ms A contrary to s4A Protection from Harassment Act 1997 (26 weeks suspended for 18 months, plus restraining order). Both allegations were proved in his absence. The Tribunal made an express finding of dishonesty on Allegation 1.1 under the Ivey test, and found breaches of Principles 2, 4 and 5 and Paragraphs 1.2 and 1.4 of the Code. He was struck off the Roll and ordered to pay costs of £22,608.00.

Duties found breached:

• Honesty
• Integrity
• No taking unfair advantage
• Uphold public trust in the profession
• Good faith and courtesy to colleagues

Aggravating factors:

• Deliberate and planned misconduct
• Sustained course of conduct over several months (stalking)
• Misuse of status as a solicitor, using SRA number
• Conduct concerned a vulnerable individual detained under the Mental Health Act
• Dishonesty
• Criminal conviction for a serious offence
• Absence of insight, remorse or remediation

Mitigating factors:

• Effectively good regulatory character (only one prior 2011 Accounts Rules finding resulting in a financial penalty)