Patrick Connor

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

Patrick Connor, a self-employed solicitor's clerk working for Cyril Waterton Solicitors, was the subject of a Law Society application under Section 43 of the Solicitors Act 1974. He had been convicted at Maidstone Crown Court in 1981 of robbery (9 years) and at Worcester Crown Court in 1989 of conspiracy to obtain property by deception (33 months). The Tribunal found the allegation substantiated, holding he had been convicted of serious criminal offences involving dishonesty and that it would be undesirable for him to be employed in the profession without control. It made a Section 43 order and ordered him to pay £1,500 costs.

Duties found breached:

• Honesty

Aggravating factors:

• Serious criminal convictions including robbery (9 years imprisonment) and conspiracy to obtain property by deception (33 months imprisonment)
• Had been difficult to locate, requiring a private investigator

Mitigating factors:

• Convictions occurred some time in the past