Andrew Kennedy Horsey

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

The Respondent, a former partner and later employee of Traill & Co, authorised the transfer of £60,070.95 from a client ledger (the MacFarlane recovery account) to settle a professional negligence judgment obtained against the firm by former client Ms HC, without authority and in breach of Rule 22 SAR. He failed to inform his partners of the negligence claim and default judgment against the firm, and later misleadingly suggested the HC matter was linked to former partner Ian MacFarlane to make the transfer appear legitimate. The Tribunal found all allegations proved beyond reasonable doubt, including dishonesty under the Twinsectra test. It also found he failed to respond to SRA correspondence. Finding no exceptional circumstances, the Tribunal struck him off the Roll and ordered payment of the costs of the proceedings (schedule totalling £24,762.47) subject to detailed assessment if not agreed.

Duties found breached:

• No improper communication with the court
• No improper use of client money
• Good faith and courtesy to colleagues

Aggravating factors:

• Dishonesty found under the Twinsectra test
• Concealment of a negligence claim and judgment from partners over several years
• Misled partners during their investigation
• Previous disciplinary finding in 1995 (fined £5,000)

Mitigating factors:

• Firm was in turmoil following partner MacFarlane's arrest; decisions made under pressure
• Loyalty to staff whose livelihoods depended on the firm
• No direct financial benefit to the Respondent