Douglas John WINNING

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

Douglas John Winning, a Rockhampton criminal law solicitor, faced nine charges of unprofessional conduct/unsatisfactory professional conduct/professional misconduct relating to conduct in 2003-2004, including 'tipping off' clients about an impending police raid and repeated use of grossly offensive and abusive language toward prosecutors, police, ACC officers, DPP staff and the DPP herself. The Tribunal found him not guilty on five charges (including the tip-off, Charge 1), guilty of unprofessional conduct on Charges 4 and 5, unsatisfactory professional conduct on Charge 7, and professional misconduct on Charge 9 (denigrating the DPP in court). No dishonesty or incompetence was alleged. The LSC conceded he was currently fit to practise. The Tribunal imposed a public reprimand and a 12-month mentoring/advice condition (with Mr John Shaw, solicitor), rejecting the LSC's more onerous proposed conditions, and made no order as to costs by consent.

Duties found breached:

• No improper communication with the court
• Non-discriminatory acceptance and cab-rank
• No baseless or threatened misconduct report

Aggravating factors:

• Charge 9 involved denigrating an important legal officer (DPP) in open court, undermining public confidence in the administration of justice
• Repeated pattern of coarse, vulgar and abusive language toward colleagues, prosecutors, police and court officers

Mitigating factors:

• No allegation of dishonesty or incompetence
• No prior disciplinary findings in over 20 years of practice; thousands of files handled without adverse comment on competence or integrity
• Conduct occurred four years earlier with no further disciplinary complaints since 2004
• Significant personal stress and pressure at the time, including facing his own criminal charges
• Acknowledgment of wrongdoing, embarrassment and contrition, and a written apology to the DPP
• Psychiatric evidence (Dr Lawrence) that alcohol dependence was in sustained remission and conduct stemmed from stress and habitual anger responses
• Voluntary steps to address issues, including consulting a psychologist and agreeing to mentoring
• LSC conceded the respondent was currently a fit and proper person to practise