Susan Irene McCarville

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

Susan Irene McCarville, a Member at THP Solicitors LLP, admitted all allegations including dishonesty. She misled client PK into believing the firm had not received a £10,000 instalment (by altering a statement of account), withdrew £11,309.41 from another client DK's account without consent to pay PK by making false entries on withdrawal/payment slips, failed to remedy the shortage promptly, and misled PK into believing court proceedings had been issued when they had not. The Tribunal found dishonesty proved under the Twinsectra test. Finding no exceptional circumstances, the Tribunal struck her off the Roll and ordered costs of £6,183.30.

Duties found breached:

• Honesty
• Integrity
• Uphold public trust in the profession
• Act in the client's best interests
• No improper use of client money
• Report serious misconduct of others

Aggravating factors:

• Dishonest conduct in several instances
• Conduct was deliberate, calculated and took place over a long period
• Concealed wrongdoing by altering statement of account, entering false details on withdrawal/payment slips and misleading client about court proceedings
• Devious element in identifying a client with the same surname to transfer funds without cashiers realising

Mitigating factors:

• Repaid funds from own bank account including interest
• Did not benefit personally
• Cooperated with regulator and proceedings
• Showed genuine insight and remorse
• Made open and frank admissions at an early stage
• Previously long unblemished career
• Stressful period at work, personal difficulties and health issues