Derek Hayward

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

Derek Hayward, an experienced criminal defence and duty solicitor, was found to have passed money to four detained clients in the custody suite at Medway Police Station on four occasions between 23 October and 29 November 2019, concealing his actions from custody officers as shown on CCTV. He admitted the allegations and admitted dishonesty. The Tribunal, dealing with the matter on the papers by way of an agreed outcome, found the admissions properly made and that no exceptional circumstances existed to avoid striking off. He was struck off the Roll and ordered to pay costs of £3,419.00.

Duties found breached:

• Honesty
• Integrity
• Uphold public trust in the profession
• No conflict between current clients

Aggravating factors:

• Repeated dishonesty over 5-6 weeks involving 4 clients
• Abuse of trust placed in him by the police
• Concealment of wrongdoing
• Deliberate and planned conduct
• Very experienced criminal law and duty solicitor who knew his actions were improper
• Not an isolated incident or one-off moment of madness

Mitigating factors:

• Cooperation with the SRA investigation
• Open and frank admissions from the outset
• Shame and embarrassment expressed
• 30 years running criminal practice without previous issue
• No personal gain