Kayleigh Swain

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

Kayleigh Swain, a barrister who never undertook pupillage, held herself out as a practising barrister to North Yorkshire Police between 17 August and 8 October 2018 without a valid practising certificate, making multiple deliberately misleading statements to obtain information she was not entitled to. The Tribunal, sitting in her absence, found all four charges proved beyond reasonable doubt and expressly found her conduct dishonest. Applying the dishonesty starting point of disbarment, and finding mitigating factors insufficient to depart from it, the Tribunal disbarred her. No costs were ordered (she was a single mother of five).

Duties found breached:

• Honesty
• Uphold public trust in the profession
• Hold a current practising certificate

Aggravating factors:

• Premeditation - planned and deliberate attempt to obtain information not entitled to
• Persistent conduct not limited to a single email
• Undermining the profession in the eyes of the public
• Attempts to hide misconduct or lay blame elsewhere (blamed North Yorkshire Police)
• Lack of remorse and no insight
• Failure to engage with the BSB; unprofessional and aggressive communications
• Deliberate and dishonest conduct
• Significant risk of substantial harm (confidential information could have been divulged)

Mitigating factors:

• Limited experience within the profession - never undertook pupillage
• Previous good character and supportive witness statement
• Lack of financial motivation - possibly an ill-advised attempt to assist a close friend