Anthony Joseph McCann

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

McCann, admitted 1987, faced three allegations of breaching the Solicitors Accounts Rules 1991 and using client funds for his own purposes. He admitted the allegations but denied dishonesty. An inspection revealed a cash shortage of £3,517.44, books not written up for two years, and a £2,500 unallocated cash withdrawal from client account. The Tribunal found there was no clear evidence of dishonesty, but that his conduct was at best reckless and at worst a flagrant disregard for the rules, showing a total failure of probity and integrity. He was struck off the Roll and ordered to pay costs of £2,272.35.

Duties found breached:

• No improper use of client money
• Accounting records, reconciliation and reports

Aggravating factors:

• Books of account in utter shambles, not written up for two years
• Cash shortage of £3,517.44 on client account not replaced, exposing the Compensation Fund
• Unallocated £2,500 cash withdrawal from client account based on a casual 'thumb nail sketch'
• Refused to divulge purpose of the cash withdrawal even in evidence
• Apparent lack of comprehension of the seriousness of mishandling client money; reckless/flagrant disregard for Accounts Rules

Mitigating factors:

• Admitted the allegations
• No criminal record
• Member of church, undertook social work, established member of community
• Suffered financially since Law Society intervention
• Sum involved relatively small
• Apologised and acknowledged he should have followed accountant's advice