Susan Barry Davies

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

Susan Barry Davies, a former solicitor already removed from the Roll, was convicted in October 2001 of conspiracy to defraud arising from a 1993 advanced fee fraud in which a client's £425,000 security deposit, held on her undertaking, was misappropriated and lost. She was sentenced to three years imprisonment and made subject to a £89,058 confiscation order. The Tribunal found the allegation of conduct unbefitting a solicitor substantiated, described it as among the most serious misconduct conceivable, and ordered that she not be restored to the Roll except by Order of the Tribunal, with costs of £2,221.62.

Duties found breached:

• Proper basis for allegations

Aggravating factors:

• Gross breach of trust involving defrauding a client of £425,000
• Breach of undertaking to hold funds until loan documentation completed
• Convicted and sentenced to three years imprisonment

Mitigating factors:

• Admitted the allegation
• No intention of applying for restoration to the Roll
• Ill health and financial hardship / bankruptcy