John Anthony Connolly

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

The Respondent, a non-practising solicitor, was convicted of two counts of fraud under the Fraud Act 2006 after deceiving two acquaintances into lending him money without disclosing his bankruptcy and giving false reasons; he was also convicted of driving without insurance and failed to respond substantively to the SRA. The Tribunal found breaches of Principles 1, 2, 6 and 7 proved, found dishonesty inherent in the fraud convictions, found no exceptional circumstances, and struck him off the Roll with costs of £1,700 (enforceable despite bankruptcy).

Duties found breached:

• Proper basis for allegations
• No taking unfair advantage
• Uphold public trust in the profession
• Cooperate openly with regulators

Aggravating factors:

• Criminal convictions for two counts of fraud
• Frauds perpetrated against personal friends causing significant financial loss
• Took advantage of individuals without conscience