By Ashley Young-
A solicitor who persuaded a vulnerable client to pay almost £5,000 into her personal bank account before trying to cover it up has been asked to pay £47,515 in costs and struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.
Vidal Eulalie Martin was practising at Essex firm Bright and Sons when she persuaded the woman who cannot be named to write a £4,700 cheque payable to her personally, under the guise the money would be spent on repairs to a property the woman had inherited.
According to the judgement, over £2,200 of the credited sum was spent before the respondent received her next monthly salary. Martin- a solicitor of 15 years experience- claimed she became aware of the cheque only when told about it by an investigation officer two years later.
However, the tribunal doubted her story which they found to be ‘hesitant, evasive and lacking credibility’. The tribunal condemned Martin for acting dishonestly and without integrity, adding that her actions had undermined public trust. The tribunal that her actions were a ‘complete departure from the integrity and probity required from solicitors’ and her motivation was ‘personal enrichment’.
The tribunal also concluded that Martin had made misleading statements to the forensic investigating officer during an investigation into her conduct. In mitigation, Martin’s counsel submitted that she was a ‘single parent with two wholly or partly dependent children’. The events were ‘truly exceptional, and the impact on the respondent was likely to be devastating’ and a finding of dishonesty did not always mean a strike off is appropriate.
In this case, it was deemed necessary to strike her off, forbidding her from ever practising in the Uk