Anthony William Elliott

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

Anthony William Elliott, a commercial property solicitor admitted in 1976, was convicted in September 2006 of fifteen offences relating to taking, attempting to take, possessing and making indecent photographs of children, and received a 36-month community rehabilitation order and five years on the Sex Offenders Register. The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal found the allegations of conduct unbefitting a solicitor substantiated (uncontested). Although the Tribunal did not consider him a danger to the public in his professional practice, it held that allowing him to continue in the profession would seriously damage its reputation. Applying Bolton, the Tribunal struck him off the Roll and ordered him to pay agreed costs of £644. No express finding of dishonesty was made.

Duties found breached:

• Prosecutorial duty of disclosure
• No unlawful discrimination or harassment

Aggravating factors:

• Offences involved children
• As a solicitor he was an officer of the court
• Damage to public confidence in the integrity of the profession

Mitigating factors:

• Pleaded guilty to criminal offences and received punishment
• Long and valued service as a solicitor
• Positive written testimonials praising professional competence and integrity
• Not considered a danger to the public while acting as a solicitor as his field of law did not involve contact with children
• Expressed shame and apologised
• Material was mostly least serious Level 1 category