Solicitors Regulation Authority extends conditions on former solicitor following conviction for stalking.
An adjudicator at the SRA has added further penalties to disgraced solicitor Andrew Milne, who earlier this year was found guilty of stalking court blogger and ‘hobby journalist’ Daniel Cloake in 2024.
Photo by Sasun Bughdaryan / Unsplash
Milne, who has been a solicitor for some 40 years, has been banned from practising as a solicitor in real property law, in both litigation and transactional work. He may also not act as a solicitor without the supervision of a solicitor approved by the SRA.
The new conditions have been made under rule 3.2 of the SRA Regulatory and Disciplinary Procedure Rules. They take immediate effect.
At a week-long trial at Stratford magistrates’ court in February, Milne was found guilty of stalking having sent after sending 124 emails to Cloake, as well as ‘loitering outside’ his home. He was sentenced to a two-year community order and ordered to pay compensation.
The case related to Cloake’s ongoing investigation of Milne’s behaviour related to freeholds.
Last month, Phil Brickell, MP for Bolton West, told the House of Commons that Milne had, ‘been arrested by South Yorkshire police after allegations of fraud and blackmail from leaseholders up and down the country. In Horwich in my constituency, Milne bought freeholds on the cheap and threatened to take my constituents to court if they did not pay him thousands of pounds.’
The firm Andrew Milne & Co Solicitors has previously denied allegations of impropriety related to the leaseholds.
In February, the SRA imposed interim conditions on Milne following the separate conviction for stalking.
Jonathan Peddie, Executive Director of Investigations, Enforcement and Litigation at the SRA, told the Law Society Gazette that, ‘We have serious concerns regarding wider allegations which have been made about Mr Milne. Our priority is to protect the public. This is why we have imposed a further condition upon him.’
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