Kathryn Ann Hennessey

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

Kathryn Ann Hennessey, an assistant solicitor, signed a witness statement in her client's name and served it after being unable to obtain the client's signature. At trial the client denied signing, prompting a police investigation. She pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice and received a one-year conditional discharge plus £200 prosecution costs. The Tribunal found the allegations substantiated and, treating this as a conviction involving deception without exceptional mitigation, struck her off the Roll and ordered her to pay costs subject to detailed assessment.

Duties found breached:

• Uphold public trust in the profession
• No conflict between current clients

Aggravating factors:

• Conviction involving deception of another party in litigation and the Court
• Signed a witness statement in the client's name and served it

Mitigating factors:

• Young and inexperienced, newly qualified (approx 9 months qualified)
• No personal gain other than avoiding an adverse court finding
• Admitted signing the statement as soon as police enquiries began
• Self-reported prosecution and outcome to the OSS