Roger David Lowe

• Application 10268-2009
• Admitted 2001
• Hearing 23 March 2010
• Reasons 12 May 2010

The SDT ordered that the respondent, of Leeds LS6, should be struck off the roll. The respondent had been guilty of conduct unbefitting a solicitor by virtue of his conviction for supplying cocaine, a class A controlled drug. The SDT found that the respondent had committed a serious criminal offence and had been sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. Such behaviour fell seriously below the standards of probity and integrity required of a solicitor. As an officer of the court a solicitor was required to uphold the rule of law and the proper administration of justice. The respondent’s behaviour was likely to diminish the trust that the public would place in him or the solicitors’ profession. The SDT took into account the sentencing remarks of Judge Kershaw QC when she pointed out that the respondent was to be dealt with for one offence of supplying cocaine to a test purchase officer. She considered that the aggravating feature of the offending was the respondent’s age and his position – he was too old and too well-qualified to be engaging in that sort of conduct. She took into account the fact that he had entered a guilty plea at a relatively early stage and recognised, she believed, that he was not an addict but that he used substances to help him through occasions when he felt less well than on others. The SDT noted that it was the respondent’s position that he had been subject to a great deal of stress at work and that he had used cocaine to help him cope.

The respondent was ordered to pay costs of £700.