Bruce William Hargreaves

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

The respondent, a solicitor's clerk, was convicted at Bristol Crown Court on 22 March 1994 of five counts of obtaining property by deception (worth £360, from cheques he knew would not be met), for which the criminal court fined him £500 and ordered £950 costs. The Law Society sought a Section 43 order. The Tribunal found the allegation substantiated, expressly noting a finding of dishonesty (at the lowest end of the scale), and made the Section 43 order effective 21 March 1995, controlling his employment in a solicitor's practice. Given the amendments to the statement and the high price already paid, the Tribunal imposed no further financial penalty and made no order for costs.

Duties found breached:

• Honesty

Mitigating factors:

• Offences at the lowest end of the scale of dishonesty (cheques that would have been covered by a banker's card if not from a business account)
• Respondent had already paid a high price - loss of marriage and financial hardship
• Respondent not a solicitor and dependent on legal work; Order not intended to bar rehabilitation