John Robert Cank

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

The Respondent was convicted at Burnley Crown Court of assault occasioning actual bodily harm to his mother and sentenced to 36 weeks imprisonment suspended for 2 years. The SRA alleged breach of Rule 1.06 of the Solicitors Code of Conduct 2007. The Tribunal proceeded in the Respondent's absence, found the allegation substantiated based on the certificate of conviction, and ordered indefinite suspension plus costs of £1,550.24 (not to be enforced without Tribunal consent given his financial circumstances). No finding of dishonesty was made.

Duties found breached:

• No taking unfair advantage

Aggravating factors:

• Previous police caution for a similar assault
• Judge took a serious view of the offence
• Respondent's apparent state of mind and refusal to accept he had breached professional conduct rules

Mitigating factors:

• Relatively young man
• Good prior record with the SRA
• Offence did not arise from his practice as a solicitor
• No previous disciplinary sanctions