Astrid Halberstadt-Twum & Joseph Twum

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

Both Respondents, a solicitor sole principal and her husband (the Firm's Practice Manager/COFA), were convicted in July 2018 of conspiracy to defraud the Legal Aid Agency and perverting the course of justice, receiving custodial sentences. The Tribunal, proceeding in their absence, found (based on certificates of conviction) breaches of Principles 1, 2 and 6 for the convictions, and Principles 6 and 7 for failing to report their convictions to the SRA (the alleged Principle 2 breach for non-reporting was not proved). The offences were characterised as involving dishonesty. The First Respondent was struck off; the Second Respondent, being unadmitted, was made subject to a section 43 order. They were ordered to pay costs of £3,852 jointly and severally.

Duties found breached:

• Integrity
• Uphold public trust in the profession
• Cooperate openly with regulators
• Serve justice and improve the law

Aggravating factors:

• Deliberate, calculated and repeated misconduct over a period of at least four years
• Financial motivation (conspiracy to defraud the Legal Aid Agency)
• Concealment of wrongdoing
• Breach of trust of the Legal Aid system and public funds
• Experienced legal professional who knew or ought to have known conduct breached obligations
• Convictions for two serious criminal offences involving dishonesty

Mitigating factors:

• No previous disciplinary findings (noted but Tribunal found no mitigating factors overall)