Stephen Paul Kettlewell

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

Solicitor and director of an unauthorised company (KSL) issued European Orders for Payment and acted as advocate for a criminal client KL without authorisation. He lied to the SRA that he had not handled client money or been paid, having received £5,000 plus VAT, and appeared in court again after promising he would not. He also persuaded the vulnerable client to lend him £65,000, never repaid. The Tribunal found all allegations proved beyond reasonable doubt, including express dishonesty under the Twinsectra test. With a prior 2008 dishonesty finding and no mitigation, he was struck off and ordered to pay £22,500 costs.

Duties found breached:

• Not mislead the court
• No improper use of client money
• Not misrepresent regulated status

Aggravating factors:

• Dishonesty
• Misconduct was deliberate, calculated and repeated over a period of time
• Exploitation of vulnerable client (KL) under pressure of criminal proceedings
• Previous disciplinary finding of dishonesty in 2008 (fined £5,000)
• Motivation was personal financial gain
• Caused financial loss and avoidable anxiety to client