Gareth Richard Arnold

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

The respondent solicitor was convicted at Swansea Crown Court on 8 October 2013 of 5 counts of fraud and sentenced to 4 years imprisonment, having stolen in excess of £200,000 from clients, including £174,000 (and a further £131,000) from a particularly vulnerable individual for whom he was a Court of Protection deputy, and £30,000 from another client. The Tribunal found breaches of SRA Principles 2 and 6 proved to the criminal standard. Dishonesty was the mens rea of the fraud convictions and the Tribunal expressly found he had acted dishonestly. He admitted the allegations and accepted he should be struck off. He was struck off the Roll and ordered to pay costs of £1,860.32 (reduced from the £2,211.32 claimed).

Duties found breached:

• Integrity
• Proper basis for allegations
• Uphold public trust in the profession

Aggravating factors:

• Gross breach of trust as a solicitor and Court of Protection deputy
• Exploitation of an exceptionally vulnerable victim
• Substantial sums involved (in excess of £200,000)
• Two separate clients defrauded
• Conduct at the higher end of the spectrum of improper conduct

Mitigating factors:

• Admitted the allegations and accepted he should be struck off
• Expressed remorse
• No previous disciplinary findings
• Requested matter be resolved swiftly