Stephen Charles Pickard

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

The Respondent, a solicitor, was convicted on indictment on 1 November 2016 of three counts of dishonestly making false representations and concealing/converting criminal property, and sentenced to 8 years' imprisonment for his role in a Ponzi/PPP investment fraud. The Tribunal found allegations proved beyond reasonable doubt that he breached Principles 1, 2 and 6. Although dishonesty was not alleged in the disciplinary proceedings (he had been convicted of dishonesty offences in the criminal court), the Tribunal made no express finding of dishonesty itself. The Respondent did not attend or contest the matter. He was struck off the Roll and ordered to pay costs of £2,439.60.

Duties found breached:

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

Aggravating factors:

• Conviction for criminal offences including dishonesty resulting in 8 years' custodial sentence
• Misconduct was deliberate, calculated and repeated over a period of time
• Motivated by greed and desire for personal financial gain
• Used his status as a solicitor to give credibility to fraudulent schemes
• Colossal harm to members of the public (financial ruin, stress-related illnesses) and reputation of the profession