Disciplinary proceedings will continue against solicitor Andrew Milne despite his plans to appeal a criminal conviction forming the basis of the regulatory case, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has ruled.
Milne, admitted in 1986, appeared before the tribunal this morning to ask for a stay in proceedings pending the appeal of a conviction earlier this year. He faces an allegation that between March and August 2024, he pursued a course of conduct which amounted to the stalking of Daniel Cloake, who writes a blog entitled Mouse in Court. In February this year, Milne was convicted at Stratford Magistrates Court of stalking. He was sentenced to a two-year community order and ordered not to contact Cloake for seven years.
Milne, a sole practitioner from London, told the tribunal today it would be ‘completely unworkable’ for disciplinary proceedings to go ahead when he is appealing the conviction on which the allegation is based.
He added there was no rule that placed a mandatory obligation on the tribunal to go ‘rushing’ into something where the factual matrix could yet collapse. He described the appeal as the ‘elephant in the room’ and said the tribunal should behave in the same way as the High Court by pausing proceedings.
The first hearing of Milne’s criminal appeal is due for 21 September.
Louise Culleton, for the Solicitors Regulation Authority, said the rules set out a clear framework for how the tribunal could proceed in this scenario, and that if the conviction was subsequently quashed then matters could be revoked.
After deliberating for 45 minutes, the tribunal panel returned with its decision to allow proceedings to continue. A three-day substantive hearing is set for 5 April next year. Panel chair James Johnston added: ‘Letting it sit there in inertia awaiting a possible date is not something we are going to do.’
A case management hearing was set for 11 November to decide on further details.
