Andrew John Puddicombe

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

The Respondent, employed by the Gloucester Law Centre (a non-fee-charging charity), secretly charged immigration and asylum clients on a privately paying basis between November 2012 and October 2015, retaining the monies (minimum £7,950) for himself without his employer's knowledge or consent. He failed to confirm fees in writing, failed to maintain accounting records, practised on his own account without being a Recognised Sole Practitioner, and had no professional indemnity insurance. He admitted all allegations including dishonesty. The Tribunal approved the agreed outcome and struck him off the Roll, following SRA v Sharma.

Duties found breached:

• Act in the client's best interests
• Non-discriminatory acceptance and cab-rank
• No conflict between current clients
• Not misrepresent regulated status

Aggravating factors:

• Acted dishonestly
• Misconduct was deliberate, planned and repeated over almost 3 years
• Concealed his actions from his employers
• Knew his conduct was in material breach of his obligations to protect the public and the reputation of the profession
• Breached the trust placed in him by his employers
• Very high level of culpability

Mitigating factors:

• Previously long unblemished record (nearly 20 years)
• Repaid £8,400 to GLC
• Made full and frank admissions
• Clients were aware of and content with the basis of representation
• Genuine need among clients no longer eligible for Legal Aid