Christopher Kenneth Grierson

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

The respondent solicitor was convicted at Lewes Crown Court of perverting the course of public justice after falsely telling police he had been kidnapped to cover up that he had crashed his car while driving with excess alcohol. He also pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol and driving without due care. The Tribunal found both allegations substantiated (admitted by respondent) and, applying the Twinsectra test, found he had acted dishonestly. He was struck off the Roll and ordered to pay agreed costs of £7,238.40.

Duties found breached:

• Not mislead third parties or opponents
• Non-discriminatory acceptance and cab-rank

Aggravating factors:

• Professional status as a solicitor and officer of the court
• Constructed an untruthful account and adhered to it throughout the police investigation
• Lies triggered a significant police investigation (some 200 hours)
• Dishonest conduct - most serious type of misconduct

Mitigating factors:

• Conviction did not arise out of professional work
• Cooperated with the SRA and did not contest the application
• Previous good character
• Serious ill-health of his wife and difficult personal circumstances
• Self-reported to the SRA
• Expressed contrition and apologised
• Retired from firm to avoid negative consequences for the firm