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Mark Pittaway

JurisdictionEngland & Wales
BodySolicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT)
Professionsolicitor
Case number12447/2023
Date05/04/2023
OutcomeStrike off

Allegation / charges

Breaches, Criminal Convictions, Failures

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

SanctionStrike Off
CostsGBP 2,850
Dishonesty foundNo

Mark Pittaway, a solicitor and manager (COLP/MLCO) at Thursfields Legal Limited admitted to the Roll in 1986, was convicted on 29 March 2022 at West Dorset Magistrates' Court of five offences of indecent exposure (s.66 Sexual Offences Act 2003) committed between 2018 and 2021 while running in the Portland area of Dorset, targeting school-age girls. He was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment suspended for 24 months with conditions and a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order. The Tribunal found his conduct breached Principles 2 and 6 (2011) and Principles 2 and 5 (2019), failing to act with integrity and undermining public trust. No express finding of dishonesty was made. By way of agreed outcome dealt with on the papers, he was struck off the Roll and ordered to pay costs of £2,850 inclusive of VAT.

Duties found breached:

Aggravating factors:

  • Lengthy period of offending (2018 to 2021)
  • Young/school-age girls were deliberately targeted
  • Lack of insight into his conduct
  • Planned misconduct with direct control over his actions
  • Severe harm to victims as set out in victim impact statements

Documents

Source: https://solicitorstribunal.org.uk/case/12447/