By James Simons-
A self-employed police station solicitor representative has been struck off for charging two law firms more than £4,000 for fictitious work. Dominic Ingle was struck off after admitting to the Solicitors Regulation Authority that he submitted up to 40 false and fraudulent invoices, for £100 each time, when business was slow in 2016.
Dominic John Peter Ingle said he had enjoyed an ‘exemplary’ career as a solicitor since 2001 but was also a functioning cocaine addict who had committed the frauds almost entirely to fund his habit. Ingle produced a number of glowing character references to the SRA which praised his ability as a solicitor, but the tribunal concluded his actions serious enough to have damaged public confidence and require his removal from the roll. Ingle was also ordered to pay £1,000 in costs.Dominic Ingle, was admitted to the roll in 2011, had been working as a self-employed police station representative on behalf of firms in the Manchester/Lancashire area. He had tried to make reference to an unblemished 15 year career, but it did not help his case at all. He had let down public trust badly.
Ingle was convicted in January 2017 by North Cheshire Magistrates’ Court of two counts of dishonestly making false representation to make gain for himself. A month later he was sentenced to seven months’ imprisonment, suspended for 24 months, and required to undertake 200 hours of unpaid work. Ingle had been using cocaine for 15 years but when the work started to ‘dry up’, his addiction took more money than he could possibly afford.
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In a letter to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), Dominic Ingle said he had committed the frauds when business was slow and had used the cash to fund his cocaine habit. He told the tribunal he was “ashamed” of his “disgraceful behaviour”, was completely disgusted with himself, and had let down his family, friends and colleagues. Since the misconduct came to light, Ingle said he had been open and honest and was trying to put his life together without the class A drug.Dodgy Ingle also submitted false claims for police station attendances that never took place, with two firms taken advantage of and suffering losses as a result.
In its judgement, the tribunal said that Ingle “continued to present a potential risk to members of the public and the reputation of the legal profession, as it was not known what his current position was with regard to the cocaine issues.”
As Ingle was struck off the roll , the tribunal said it hoped he could go on to use the skills and experience he had acquired over the years for the benefit of society.
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The judgment said: ‘This was deliberate, planned and repeated conduct over a period of time. He had personally benefited from the fees he had received for work that he had not done and he had abused the trust placed in him by the two firms who had instructed him.’The judge had also recorded that his actions had had “a significant impact” on one of the firms he had defrauded to run its practice, as well as Mr Ingle himself, who found himself homeless for a period.
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