Ryszard Witold John Pietrowski

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

The Respondent, a solicitor admitted in 1980, was convicted at Guildford Crown Court of one count of distributing and three counts of making indecent photographs/pseudo-photographs of a child, pleading guilty on 9 August 2016 and sentenced on 29 September 2016 to four concurrent terms (longest 20 months), plus a victim surcharge, a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and 10-year Sex Offenders Register notification. He admitted the allegations and a Statement of Agreed Facts and proposed Agreed Outcome was submitted. The Tribunal proceeded in his absence (he was in prison) and found that by virtue of his conviction he breached Principles 1, 2 and 6. Finding the misconduct at the highest level of seriousness, the Tribunal struck him off the Roll and ordered costs of £1,951.50.

Duties found breached:

• Integrity
• Serve justice and improve the law
• Uphold public trust in the profession

Aggravating factors:

• Serious offences committed over a period of time
• Harm caused to vulnerable children through dissemination of images in which the Respondent participated
• Significant harm caused to victims
• Harm to the reputation of the profession

Mitigating factors:

• Admitted the allegations and facts
• Co-operated with the Applicant
• Dealt with proceedings with dignity
• No previous disciplinary matters
• Had been incorrectly advised not to report until convicted (so not further blamed for failure to report)