Jeremy Charles Patterson

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

Jeremy Charles Patterson, a solicitor employed as Head of Commercial Conveyancing at Nationwide Building Society, was convicted at Northampton Crown Court of two offences of theft and sentenced to ten months imprisonment (concurrent), having stolen money from his employer over a lengthy period. He admitted the allegation of conduct unbefitting a solicitor by virtue of his conviction for dishonesty. The Tribunal struck him off the Roll and ordered him to pay costs of £990.24.

Duties found breached:

• No taking unfair advantage

Aggravating factors:

• Thefts committed over a lengthy period (1994-2003)
• Committed while in a senior position of trust with employees under him
• 149 further offences taken into consideration in addition to the 20 charges
• Betrayed employer's trust and damaged reputation of the profession

Mitigating factors:

• Admitted the allegation at an early stage
• Cooperated with investigation once discovered
• Expressed sincere apologies