Peter John Smith

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

Peter John Smith, a salaried partner at Stephens & Scown, was convicted on indictment of theft at Exeter Crown Court on 15 December 2000 and sentenced to two years' imprisonment. He had misappropriated £96,156.22 of client funds via 53 payments to benefit himself and pay personal creditors arising from litigation with a former firm. The Tribunal found the allegation substantiated (and admitted), expressly noting theft is a serious criminal offence involving dishonesty. He was struck off the Roll and ordered to pay costs of £4,407.25 inclusive.

Duties found breached:

• Proper basis for allegations
• No improper use of client money

Aggravating factors:

• Misappropriation of client funds totalling £96,156.22
• Criminal conviction for theft with two-year prison sentence
• Personal benefit from misuse of funds

Mitigating factors:

• Admitted the allegation
• Attended Tribunal to apologise
• Acting under considerable personal and financial difficulties/debt
• Two testimonials handed up in support
• Parents' home mortgaged to secure his debt