Michael McKeown

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

The Respondent, a criminal defence solicitor, was found in possession of herbal cannabis (Class B) when searched by police within Glasgow Sheriff Court in April 2020, while attending in a professional capacity during the early pandemic. He accepted and paid a £325 fiscal fine for the offence. He admitted professional misconduct for breaching Rule B1.2, the common law duty of integrity, and bringing the profession into disrepute. The Tribunal found misconduct but, given the unusual circumstances and mitigation, imposed a censure and awarded expenses against him. No express finding of dishonesty was made.

Duties found breached:

• Honesty
• Personal probity and fitness to practise

Aggravating factors:

• Conduct occurred while acting in a professional capacity within a court building
• Behaviour was made public via a full-page newspaper article, damaging the profession's reputation

Mitigating factors:

• No previous findings of professional misconduct or unsatisfactory professional conduct
• Incident occurred in unusual, stressful circumstances at the start of the pandemic
• Respondent attended court with good intentions to help a vulnerable client in custody
• Not a habitual cannabis user; had forgotten drug was in his pocket
• Full cooperation with criminal and misconduct proceedings
• Demonstrated contrition and no likelihood of repetition
• Strong character references, including from Thomas Ross QC
• Newspaper publicity caused distress to Respondent and family