Breathalyser: Solicitors refused requests
Two solicitors convicted of failing to provide a specimen of breath for analysis after minor car accidents have been fined by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).
However, another convicted of drink-driving has only been rebuked, which is notable given concerns express earlier this year about hefty penalties handed out to other solicitors, especially as they have already been convicted in court.
The SRA’s current consultation on revising its fining guidance proposes ending fines for drink-driving offences – meaning in future either a rebuke or a referral to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.
Liverpool solicitor Eleanor Barber was fined £5,569 after being convicted of failing to provide a specimen of breath for analysis when requested by the police without reasonable excuse, following a minor road traffic accident.
She provided a sample of breath to the police at the roadside and was subsequently arrested and taken into custody. While in custody, she was asked to provide a further breath sample and refused.
She was disqualified from driving for 17 months (reduced by 17 weeks following completion of an awareness course), handed a community service order with an unpaid work requirement of 80 hours, and ordered to pay costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £114.
Any lesser sanction than a fine “would not be appropriate”, the SRA said, as it needed “to send a signal to those we regulate more widely with the aim of preventing similar behaviour by others”.
A public sanction was also required to uphold public confidence.
Using the SRA’s fining guidance, the figure was calculated at 27% of her income, with a 25% discount to take into account Ms Barber’s mitigation – that she reported herself to the regulator, her guilty plea and “her expressions of remorse”.
Coventry solicitor Sunil Chumber hit a kerb and damaged his vehicle in Birmingham city centre last year and, like Ms Barber, was convicted of failing to provide a specimen of breath for analysis.
In this case, he had a previous conviction for driving with excess alcohol from 2005.
His fine was set at 24% of his income, with a 25% discount applied for the same reasons as Ms Barber, leading to a fine of £6,345.
Carlianne White, a solicitor in Chester, received a rebuke only after being convicted of drink-driving last year.
She was sentenced to a 26-month disqualification (reduced by 26 weeks if she completed a course) and a community order, with a requirement to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work, and was ordered to pay costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £114.
In this case, the SRA said a rebuke was appropriate “to uphold public confidence” and as a deterrence to others.
In mitigation, the SRA accepted that she made a prompt report to the SRA and co-operated fully with its investigation, as well as that of the police, pleading guilty, while “the incident was isolated and out of character”.
Her conduct “was reckless and disregarded the risk, or potential risk, of harm to others”, but Ms White had “shown remorse and insight into her conduct”.
The SRA consultation says that, while maintaining that “a conviction for any offence is likely to require a regulatory response, given the impact on public trust and confidence in the profession when a solicitor breaks the law”, it has decided that a fine for drink-driving is no longer appropriate.
“This is because cases in which a warning or rebuke were not appropriate were those that involved repeated criminal behaviour, or serious aggravating factors in addition to the commission of the offence.
“We consider that this type of conduct raises serious concerns about integrity and public trust in the profession which we consider are matters best dealt with by the SDT.”
Leave a Comment