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Mishcon De Reya sacks tax lawyer for child porn and bestiality pics
Mishcon de Reya has sacked a tax lawyer for possessing extreme child and bestiality pornography.

The firm appointed Stephen Coleclough as a consultant in January 2014. A leading expert in his field, he was the president of the Chartered Institute of Taxation and previously worked for 16 years as the global head of indirect taxes at PWC. Prior to that, he was a partner and the Head of Corporate and Indirect Tax at Simmons & Simmons.

Coleclough was arrested in March last year by Northamptonshire Police's POLIT unit, the Paedophile On Line Investigation Team. Following an investigation, he admitted downloading hundreds of indecent photographs of children over an eighteen month period culminating in his arrest. As well as bestiality porn, Coleclough was found in possession of 378 abusive photographs of children, with 137 falling into the most serious 'A' category,

    It does make you go blind after all

Coleclough was convicted at Northampton Crown Court in February after pleading guilty to possession of the images and to distributing 119 indecent photographs of children. He also pleaded guilty to possessing 29 extreme pornographic images of bestiality.

Mishcon sacked Coleclough in October when it first became aware of the allegations made against him. A spokeswoman told RollOnFriday that the allegations made and the subsequent conviction "are in no way linked to the firm, its clients or the consultancy services he provided".

Coleclough will be sentenced in April.
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Comments

Anonymous 11 March 16 11:11

Interesting news but no need to publish the photo of this unpleasant and disgusting chap, nor his full name - at least not in a magazine for lawyers.

Anonymous 13 March 16 14:51

@anon 11/03/2016 11:11 and subsequent posters

I think the point here that makes it fair game to post his name and picture is that (a) he admitted the offences and (b) the court case accepting his plea has already occurred - i.e. it's a matter of fact and of record.

In these circumstances, as opposed to circumstances in which there are merely allegations, is it not fair to publish his details?

Anonymous 14 March 16 12:04

Interestingly, notwithstanding the nature of his offences (and having regard to the joke above alleging that he is commenting in his own defence), he's still accessing the Internet - he tweeted 5 Live on the Saturday morning following this.

Anonymous 14 March 16 14:44

I am very sad that this has happened. I feel sorry for the children involved and for his family. No one will ever know why people seem to take deliberate steps to ruin their life. Whilst it is right for him to face the penalties for his actions, I do hope he is given the chance to rebuild his life.

Anonymous 31 March 16 18:39

Stephen Coleclough got exactly what he deserves. What puzzles me is why he is still listed as a solicitor on SRA. Surely you cannot practice law if you are a criminal!

Anonymous 06 June 16 23:34

This is an extremely unpleasant and hypocritical, rancid man; it is unbelievable that the SRA has not taken steps to strike him from the register - he is still listed on both the Law Society and SRA websites - shame on them and indeed the CIOT! Both the Law Society and the SRA should be investigated in relation to this and they should be required to account to the profession and to the public at large. Furthermore, isn't it the duty of a solicitor to inform the Law Society and the SRA of even an investigation? I believe that he did not do this. I endorse the comment that he should not have internet access at all. More significantly perhaps, under the 56 day slippage rule, someone should question the judge's decision - including especially the judge/prosecuting counsel - to suspend the (very short) sentence. Look at the conviction certificate. On a relative basis, his sentence was light...and how on earth can the judge have been impressed with this man's efforts to reform himself in such a short time? Ridiculous in the extreme - as was the fine and costs award. Now, just look at his continuing internet use and blatant continuing arrogance...he must truly believe he is untouchable...symptomatic of proximate recidivism I would have thought. I doubt whether his neighbours in Tibbs Way or Bugbrooke even know about him...and they have small children. There is something deeply worrying about the outcome of this case....