A former solicitor who set up a pyrotechnics company before being convicted of seven counts of fraud has been struck off the roll.

Nathan Horsley dishonestly made six false representations to various companies about his ability to pay for goods, and one further false representation when he was paid £270 for Grand National tickets he advertised on Gumtree but did not possess.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal heard that Horsley was admitted to the roll in 2010 but ceased to practise after three years. He founded a company called BCBG Pyrotechnics in 2016 and ordered fireworks worth almost £3,500 from a supplier, sending a screenshot from his banking app to show payment had been made.

Payment was never made and there were insufficient funds in his bank account to cover the costs.

Horsley employed the same method to order another consignment of fireworks from a different supplier, this time worth around £1,800. He also attempted to buy chocolates from Thorntons worth £313, hampers valued at £3,451 from Peach Hampers and gift cards worth £1,500 from Marks and Spencer.

The companies did not send out the goods and in all cases he had insufficient funds to pay for the goods, though Horsley told the vendors that he had paid. He received the money for the Grand National tickets but the buyer did not receive her tickets.

At trial, Horsley argued that he had tried to arrange finance for his business through the bank and had assumed that the finance had been granted. On the basis of this assumption, he ordered fireworks, equipment, and marketing materials for the business. The payments, which had been made over a period of time, did not clear as the bank declined the finance.

He was sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years.

In mitigation to the tribunal, which was not agreed by the SRA, Horsley explained that he had been head of litigation with his previous firm and blew the whistle about alleged financial irregularities. He was then accused of doing cash-in-hand work for divorces and investigated by the police, before being acquitted of all (unspecified) charges before a jury in 2020. He claimed to have been victim of a ‘witch hunt’ by his former firm and said the investigation caused ‘profound stress’ and hampered his ability to earn.

He agreed with the Solicitors Regulation Authority to be struck off and to pay £1,300 costs.

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