David Hamilton Benham

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

David Hamilton Benham, a former solicitor, was convicted at Winchester Crown Court of eleven counts of theft from his elderly aunt whose affairs he handled under a power of attorney, receiving six months' imprisonment (concurrent) and ordered to pay £73,229.76 compensation. He had voluntarily removed his name from the Roll in 2001. The Tribunal found the allegation of conduct unbefitting substantiated and expressly found dishonesty. As he was already off the Roll, it ordered that his name not be restored except by order of the Tribunal and ordered him to pay costs of £832.50.

Duties found breached:

• Proper basis for allegations

Aggravating factors:

• Theft of money from his elderly aunt who had appointed him under power of attorney
• Breach of trust placed in him as a solicitor
• Received a custodial sentence of six months and ordered to pay compensation of £73,229.76

Mitigating factors:

• Admitted the allegation
• Consented to the order and to the matter proceeding