Maya Devani

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

Maya Devani, a newly qualified solicitor, was convicted at the Central Criminal Court of perverting the course of public justice after taking a letter out of prison for a client (containing instructions to fabricate exculpatory evidence) and sentenced to 12 months imprisonment. The Tribunal found the allegation of conduct unbefitting a solicitor substantiated (uncontested) and ordered she be struck off the Roll and pay £1,000 costs. No express finding of dishonesty was recorded.

Duties found breached:

• No taking unfair advantage

Aggravating factors:

• Serious criminal conviction involving imprisonment
• Offence undermined trust in the integrity of solicitors

Mitigating factors:

• Respondent was very young and newly qualified (admitted about one month)
• Offence not planned in advance - moment of madness
• Tribunal questioned prudence of sending young solicitor unaccompanied to maximum security prison
• Respondent and family had already suffered a great deal
• Respondent had served her sentence