Sohail Bashir

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

The Respondent, a solicitor admitted in 2008, was convicted on 8 May 2024 of distributing a Category B indecent video of a child (contrary to the Protection of Children Act 1978) and possessing extreme pornographic images involving intercourse with an animal (contrary to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008). He was sentenced on 25 July 2024 to 6 months' imprisonment suspended for 2 years, 7 years on the sex offenders register, a 7-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order, rehabilitation activities, and 180 hours unpaid work. The Respondent admitted all allegations, breaching Principles 2 and 5. The Tribunal dealt with the matter on the papers via an Agreed Outcome and found the misconduct extremely serious, warranting strike off. He was ordered to pay costs of £2,680.

Duties found breached:

• No conflict between current clients
• Non-discriminatory acceptance and cab-rank

Aggravating factors:

• Conduct involved criminal convictions for distributing an indecent image of a child and possessing extreme pornographic images
• Conduct caused incalculable harm to the subjects of the images
• Distribution to three others via a WhatsApp group chat