Pair referred to disciplinary tribunal
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has brought its first prosecutions against solicitors linked to the Post Office Horizon scandal, referring two individuals to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT).
The first, Jane Elizabeth MacLeod, who was employed as general counsel at Post Office between 2015 and 2019, faces an allegation that she “failed to co-operate fully” with the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry over a request to give oral evidence between April and July 2024. It was reported at the time that she had since relocated to Australia and had declined to give evidence either in person or via video link.
The second solicitor, Nicholas Simon Barry Gould, faces a broader set of allegations connected with the scandal, relating to his conduct towards two unnamed clients. The SRA alleges that, between May 2021 and April 2025, Gould failed to provide adequate information about likely overall costs, the costs incurred, and the legal work he and/or his firm was instructed to undertake.
It is further alleged that in January 2024 he raised, or caused to be raised, invoices without adequate justification of the sums to be paid, that correspondence he sent in April 2024 was “inappropriate and/or offensive”, and that he breached his duty of confidentiality to one of the clients.
The allegations are subject to a hearing before the tribunal and are as yet unproven.
Commenting on the prosecutions, Jonathan Peddie, executive director of investigations, enforcement and litigation at the SRA said:
“We have referred two cases to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. The cases refer to conduct that took place in the period after the main events of the Post Office Horizon scandal. Our wider investigations are still ongoing. This includes issues relating directly to the Horizon scandal, where we are working closely with the Inquiry team and the Metropolitan Police. We can and will act if we find that solicitors we regulate fail to meet our standards.”