David May

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

Sole practitioner David May admitted all six allegations. An SRA inspection found a minimum client account cash shortage of £861,645.28. He transferred estate monies from probate matters (G's £280,000 and T's £364,000) to office account without authority, created 56 false bills of costs totalling £70,552.35, made false entries in cashbooks, failed to bank client cash, used client funds for personal and practice expenses, and falsely told his reporting accountants he had client authority for transfers. He had self-reported and was serving a two-year prison sentence for theft. The Tribunal described it as one of the worst cases before it and struck him off, ordering costs of £6,601.96 not to be enforced without leave given his financial situation.

Duties found breached:

• Accounting records, reconciliation and reports
• No improper use of client money
• Not mislead third parties or opponents
• Truthful, non-misleading advertising

Aggravating factors:

• One of the worst cases before the Tribunal
• Disgraceful abuse of client trust
• Multiple clients suffered loss
• Serious damage to reputation of the profession
• Use of client money to fund personal living and practice expenses
• Criminal conviction for theft

Mitigating factors:

• Admitted all allegations
• Self-reported conduct to the SRA and made a full confession
• Apologised unreservedly and expressed shame
• Poor financial situation; currently imprisoned and unlikely to gain future employment