A north-east solicitor has been jailed for two years after being found guilty of taking £300,000 worth of clients funds, almost half of which he funnelled directly into his back pocket. And a Northern Irish solicitor has won a three-year sentence after making a series of threatening phone calls. And that means another two cards in the RollOnFriday Top Trumps deck.
Robert Cutty was formerly a consultant at Harding, Swinburn and Jackson in Sunderland. He owned an expensive house in a smart suburb of Durham, and is thought to have taken the cash to help keep up what was described in the local press as a "mansion". Despite that, in court his lawyer noted that his lifestyle wasn't "lavish".
As is so typical, it took years for his firm and then regulators to catch up with his criminal spree. Starting in 2003, Cutty transferred £33,000 of client funds to himself, and took another £110,000 or so just two years later (half of it from a dead client's estate). He covered up the large-scale theft by moving money between clients' accounts, although all clients have now been reimbursed. He was finally rumbled in 2010, and sentenced on Tuesday. Such is the astonishing speed of justice.
Second into the ranks of the Dodgy Solicitors comes Irish barrister Paul McLoughlin. Between 2006 and 2010, McLoughlin was accused of harassing a junior barrister, Lorcan Staines, bombarding him with a series of frankly rather nasty calls and voicemails. In the messages he told Staines "I want you to be my boyfriend", said that Staines should "look left and right the next time he was in the toilet" and made plenty of references to Fatal Attraction.
Staines involved the police in 2009, but made no formal complaint. However the barrage of voicemails, text messages and emails continued, so McLoughlin was charged with harassment at the end of last year. He changed his plea to guilty after hearing the voicemails played in court.
McLoughlin was given a three-year jail term, of which the final year will be suspended following his guilty plea. He also apologised in court, stating that he "realised the serious grievous wrong [he] had done". He hopes to restart his legal career when he gets out.
The two legal professionals jump straight into mid-table respectability in the overall chart of woe. Congratulations to them both.
Send your choice of Dodgy Solicitor to the usual place.
Tip Off ROF
Robert Cutty was formerly a consultant at Harding, Swinburn and Jackson in Sunderland. He owned an expensive house in a smart suburb of Durham, and is thought to have taken the cash to help keep up what was described in the local press as a "mansion". Despite that, in court his lawyer noted that his lifestyle wasn't "lavish".
As is so typical, it took years for his firm and then regulators to catch up with his criminal spree. Starting in 2003, Cutty transferred £33,000 of client funds to himself, and took another £110,000 or so just two years later (half of it from a dead client's estate). He covered up the large-scale theft by moving money between clients' accounts, although all clients have now been reimbursed. He was finally rumbled in 2010, and sentenced on Tuesday. Such is the astonishing speed of justice.
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Second into the ranks of the Dodgy Solicitors comes Irish barrister Paul McLoughlin. Between 2006 and 2010, McLoughlin was accused of harassing a junior barrister, Lorcan Staines, bombarding him with a series of frankly rather nasty calls and voicemails. In the messages he told Staines "I want you to be my boyfriend", said that Staines should "look left and right the next time he was in the toilet" and made plenty of references to Fatal Attraction.
Staines involved the police in 2009, but made no formal complaint. However the barrage of voicemails, text messages and emails continued, so McLoughlin was charged with harassment at the end of last year. He changed his plea to guilty after hearing the voicemails played in court.
McLoughlin was given a three-year jail term, of which the final year will be suspended following his guilty plea. He also apologised in court, stating that he "realised the serious grievous wrong [he] had done". He hopes to restart his legal career when he gets out.
The two legal professionals jump straight into mid-table respectability in the overall chart of woe. Congratulations to them both.
| Name |
Jurisdiction |
Crime |
Sentence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matthew Kluger, ex Skadden |
USA | Insider trading |
12 years |
| Martin Weisberg, ex Bakers |
USA | $3m money laundering, securities fraud |
8 years expected |
| Simon Morgan, ex Milners | England | Theft of £1.4 million | 7 years |
| Kevin Steele, ex Mishcon |
England | £18.4m conspiracy |
5 1/2 years |
| Louise Martini, ex Williamson & Soden |
England | Theft of £1.7m |
5 years |
| David O'Shea, ex O'Donovan |
Ireland | Theft of €779,000 |
4 years |
| Kenneth Hunt, ex Hunt Kidd |
England | Theft of £1m |
4 years |
| Christopher Grierson, ex Lovells |
England | Theft of £1.3m |
3 years |
| Paul McLoughlin, barrister |
N. Ireland |
Harrassment | 3 years |
| Barbara Gayton, ex Hunt Kidd |
England | Theft of £1m |
2 years |
| Robert Cutty, ex Harding, Swinburn and Jackson | England | Theft of £300,000 |
2 years |
| Andy Hodges, ex Fraser Brown/Challinors |
England | Theft of £70,000 |
18 months |
| Emma Rowsell, ex CC |
England | Theft of £63,000 |
18 months |
| Richard Simkin, ex Fulbright |
England | Theft of £100,000 |
16 months |
| Judie Groom, ex CC |
England | Theft of £23,000 |
15 months |
| Leonard Sawyer |
USA | Lewd acts |
180 days expected |
| Partner who ran a red light, Hogan Lovells |
Dubai | Running a red light |
20 days |
| Pissed trainee, Freshfields |
Dubai | Being pissed |
2 days |
Send your choice of Dodgy Solicitor to the usual place.
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