John Anthony Connolly

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

The respondent, a solicitor admitted in 1997 (no current practising certificate), was convicted at Liverpool and Knowsley Magistrates' Court of two counts of fraud under the Fraud Act 2006 after borrowing money from two personal acquaintances by lying about his circumstances while an undischarged bankrupt, and was convicted of driving without insurance. He also failed to provide a substantive response to the SRA. The Tribunal found breaches of Principles 1, 2, 6 (for the convictions) and 7 (failure to cooperate). The convictions involved dishonesty/fraud; no exceptional circumstances were found. He was struck off the Roll and ordered to pay costs of GBP 1,700 (enforceable order, given his bankruptcy).

Duties found breached:

• Integrity
• Uphold public trust in the profession
• Cooperate openly with regulators
• Serve justice and improve the law

Aggravating factors:

• Criminal convictions for fraud
• Frauds perpetrated against personal friends causing significant financial loss
• Took advantage of individuals without conscience
• Additional motoring offence and failure to cooperate with regulator