solicitor who stole £85,000 from two clients while acting under a lasting power of attorney and used some of the money to pay for a holiday has been struck off the roll.
In an agreed outcome, Griffiths admitted that between 1 December 2018 and 20 February 2021, while acting under a lasting power of attorney for Client A, she had abused her position by misappropriating £49,482.52 from the client’s bank account. Between 1 March 2021 and 1 October 2021, while acting under a lasting power of attorney for person B, SHE abused her position by misappropriating £35,790.
Griffiths pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position in 2023. She had stolen more than £49,000 of Client A’s funds through ATM withdrawals and direct bank transfers to her own account, using the money to ‘purchase goods and even finance a holiday’, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal’s judgment said.
Griffiths, whose last practising certificate was for 2019/2020. had remained on the roll. She was sentenced in February 2024 to 24 months’ imprisonment. The sentencing remarks of the judge, the agreed outcome noted, said client A was a ‘particularly vulnerable victim’ due to her age and because ‘she had dementia and no family’.
Person B was also vulnerable ‘due to his age and health issues’ and Griffiths’ actions led to his care fees going unpaid.
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