David Storry Walton

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

The Respondent, a solicitor admitted in 1981, was convicted in 2023 of attempting, for sexual gratification, to communicate sexually with a person he believed to be under 16 (a decoy in a paedophile hunter sting). He was sentenced to a Community Order and placed on the Sex Offenders Register for five years. He admitted breaching Principles 2 and 6. The matter was resolved on the papers via an Agreed Outcome. The Tribunal found the seriousness of the offence warranted striking him off the Roll and ordered £3,000 costs. No express finding of dishonesty was made.

Duties found breached:

• Non-discriminatory acceptance and cab-rank

Aggravating factors:

• Criminal conviction for a serious sexual offence involving attempted sexual communication with a person under 16

Mitigating factors:

• Full cooperation with police and guilty plea at first appearance
• Complied with self-reporting rules and SRA investigation
• Attended recognised rehabilitation courses
• Positive personal references and community/charitable work
• No punitive element to criminal sentence
• Complied with community order and registration requirements
• Voluntarily retired from profession with no intention to return