Ashley Peter Barry Attwood

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

Mr Attwood, a sole practitioner solicitor, was convicted at Crown Court on his guilty plea of sexual assault by penetration under s2 Sexual Offences Act 2003 and sentenced to 5 years imprisonment, placed on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely and the Barring List. He assaulted Person A, the wife of a long-term friend, while she was asleep, took photographs and deleted them in an attempt to destroy evidence, and failed to report his conviction to the SRA. The Tribunal found breaches of Principles 1, 2 and 6, which he admitted. No express finding of dishonesty was made. He was struck off the Roll and ordered to pay costs of £3,000.

Duties found breached:

• No abuse of process or coercive powers
• No taking unfair advantage
• Uphold public trust in the profession

Aggravating factors:

• Commission of a serious criminal offence (sexual assault by penetration, 5-year custodial sentence)
• Attempt to conceal misconduct by deleting images from phone
• Conduct was deliberate, calculated and repeated
• Took advantage of a vulnerable victim who was asleep
• Abuse of friendship
• Significant harm caused to Person A

Mitigating factors:

• No previous adverse regulatory history
• Remorse expressed
• Undiagnosed medical conditions at the time of the offence
• Guilty plea and admissions to the Tribunal