Richard Sutton Housley

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

The Respondent, a solicitor, was convicted in the High Court of Justiciary on three charges: income tax fraud, involvement in a money laundering arrangement under POCA s.328(1), and failure to disclose suspected money laundering under POCA s.330(1). He was sentenced to four years' imprisonment (with concurrent 6-month terms). The Law Society brought a complaint under s.53(1)(b) of the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980. The Respondent admitted the terms of the Complaint via Joint Minute and did not appear. The Tribunal found s.53(1)(b) applied, noting the Sub-Committee had characterised the conduct as involving dishonesty, and struck the Respondent's name from the Roll of Solicitors. He was found liable for the expenses of the Complainers and Tribunal, taxed on an agent and client basis at a unit rate of £14.00.

Duties found breached:

• No standing bail or surety for client
• AML and crime-prevention compliance

Aggravating factors:

• Very serious conviction involving approximately £1.8 million passing through accounts
• Sentenced to four years' imprisonment
• Solicitor abused gatekeeper role under Proceeds of Crime legislation
• Multiple charges over an extended period

Mitigating factors:

• Respondent was cooperative and agreed the terms of the Joint Minute