Andrew McNeill

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

The Respondent, a solicitor, was convicted of three counts of making indecent photographs of a child and one count of producing cannabis, receiving an eight-month suspended sentence, a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, sex offender registration and a £150 fine. He admitted breaching Principles 2 and 6. The Tribunal, dealing with the matter on the papers via an agreed outcome, found the misconduct extremely serious and struck him off the Roll, ordering costs of £1,290. No express finding of dishonesty was made.

Duties found breached:

• Non-discriminatory acceptance and cab-rank

Aggravating factors:

• Criminal convictions including one warranting a custodial sentence
• Possession of 23 indecent images/videos of children including 15 Category A files
• Use of privacy cleaners and VPNs to disguise online activity

Mitigating factors:

• No prior long-standing interest; images downloaded in a four-week period as an uncharacteristic aberration
• No extensive collection and no sharing of images
• Self-referral to counselling/rehabilitation (Aurora Project)
• Left employment to protect firm and clients
• Cooperation and admissions to police