Sophia Cannon

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

Sophia Cannon, an unregistered barrister, faced two sets of disciplinary proceedings and was found guilty of professional misconduct on four charges (one charge dismissed, one not proved). The Tribunal proceeded in her absence after refusing an adjournment. It found she dishonestly misled the court on 14 August 2014 and on 16 June 2015, breached CD5 by failing to comply with multiple court orders, and pursued wholly unmeritorious litigation resulting in a barring order and Civil Restraint Order. Express findings of dishonesty were made on Charges 1 and 3 (first proceedings). She was disbarred on three charges (concurrent) and given a 12-month prohibition from applying for a practising certificate on the court-order breaches. No fine and no costs order were made.

Duties found breached:

• Full disclosure on ex parte applications
• No improper communication with the court
• Comply with and respect court orders

Aggravating factors:

• Repeat offending - second dishonesty (Charge 3) occurred 10 months after first (Charge 1)
• Conduct carried on over a long period affecting numerous third parties
• Repeated and flagrant disregard of court orders
• Non-compliance including failure to pay costs of £4,500

Mitigating factors:

• No professional or other dishonesty prior to the 14 August 2014 incident