Terance David Walton Liggins

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

Terence David Walton Liggins, a solicitor admitted in 1968, was convicted at Worcester Crown Court on 24 April 1998 of three counts of theft and sentenced to 30 months imprisonment for stealing £200,000 from a client while acting as a solicitor. His appeal was rejected. The applicant proceeded only on the supplementary allegation of conviction for a dishonesty offence in the course of practice, with the original five allegations left to lie on the file. The Tribunal found the allegation substantiated, adopted the sentencing judge's remarks, and struck him off the Roll, ordering costs of £3,500 plus the taxed costs of the Law Society's Investigation Accountant.

Duties found breached:

• Proper basis for allegations

Aggravating factors:

• Theft of £200,000 from a client who had entrusted funds to him because he was a senior solicitor
• Breach of client trust; undermined public confidence in the profession
• No credit for guilty plea as he contested the charges

Mitigating factors:

• Under immense financial pressure at the time
• Thefts took place over a very short period
• Intention to repay sums once company restructuring completed
• Money used to prop up a company whose debts he had guaranteed rather than personal benefit