Steven Barker

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

The Respondent, admitted as a solicitor in February 2016, was convicted at South East (Portsmouth) Magistrates' Court on 19 September 2016 of six Fraud Act 2006 offences arising from the fraudulent misuse of a parking permit, receiving a 6-month suspended sentence and 150 hours unpaid work. He admitted breaches of Principles 1, 2 and 6 of the SRA Principles 2011. The Tribunal, dealing with the matter on the papers via an agreed outcome, found the most serious misconduct involved dishonesty. No exceptional circumstances were established, so the Respondent was struck off the Roll and ordered to pay costs of £1,142.00.

Duties found breached:

• Integrity
• Uphold public trust in the profession
• Non-discriminatory acceptance and cab-rank

Aggravating factors:

• Dishonest conduct
• Misconduct involved commission of a criminal offence which was deliberate and occurred over a period
• Concealment of wrongdoing - tried to lie his way out repeatedly when challenged
• Motivated by personal gain, causing loss of revenue to the local authority

Mitigating factors:

• Lacked experience as a solicitor
• Made frank admissions (though only after being found out)
• Cooperated with the Applicant
• Pleaded guilty at earliest opportunity
• Suffering from stress relating to employment and financial problems
• Judge commented repetition highly unlikely