John Andrew Littler

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

John Andrew Littler, a solicitor admitted in 1998, received a formal police caution on 10 February 2005 for making and possessing indecent photographs of children (six Level One specimen offences involving images accessed via credit card and stored on his computer). He was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for two years. The Tribunal refused his request for a private hearing, found the uncontested allegation of conduct unbefitting a solicitor substantiated, and, while noting the low-level nature of the offence, imposed an indefinite suspension and ordered payment of agreed costs of £1,912.90. No finding of dishonesty was made.

Duties found breached:

• Personal probity and fitness to practise

Aggravating factors:

• Criminal activity involving the exploitation and abuse of children, damaging the reputation of the profession

Mitigating factors:

• Admission and non-contest of the allegation
• Cooperation with proceedings
• Wish for the matter to be dealt with promptly
• Offence at low level (Level One images) downloaded for own use only
• Sincere regret and apology to the profession