James Ramsden QC, acting for the Solicitors Regulation
Authority, secured the conviction for professional misconduct of
Margaret & Patrick Hetherington after a six day hearing before
the Solicitors' Disciplinary Tribunal which concluded on 9th
August 2021.
Both solicitors were struck off the Roll and ordered to pay
£98,000 in costs to the SRA.
The case was one of the most important brought by the SRA in
several years as it focussed on the role of solicitors as advisors
in unregulated collective investment schemes frequently promoted to
SIPP Trustees and where the solicitors acted under a referral
agreement with the scheme promoter, Group First.
This scheme involved the acquisition of long leases in airport
car parking spaces and self-storage pods. It collapsed into
insolvency in 2018. In just under seven years prior to that, over
£100m of investors' funds passed through the
Hetheringtons' client account under retainers with nearly
7000 clients. The SRA alleged
