A conveyancing solicitor has been struck off after being jailed for directing clients to pay nearly £250,000 into her personal account over a period of six years.
Fiona Parsons was convicted of fraud by abuse of position on 12 March 2025 at Worcester Crown Court and sentenced to 30 months in prison. She was referred to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) after the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) found her conduct breached a number of its principles.
The SDT heard Parsons was working as a conveyancer for a firm when her misconduct came to light in February 2023 after a client disclosed that a £400 payment had been made directly into Parson’s account, at her request, rather than to the business account. She was suspended from the business and dismissed for gross misconduct.
The matter was subsequently handed over to police and Parsons was arrested in March 2023 on suspicion of fraud. The police investigation found that, between 2016 and 2022, Parsons had directed clients to pay money into her personal account, amounting to approximately £249,459 of misappropriated funds.
Around £88,244 of that sum was repaid, leaving a net loss to her employer of approximately £161,215.
The investigation further found that she had taken “unconfirmed amounts in cash payments from clients”.
The Tribunal heard how in response to getting into financial difficulties in 2016, the solicitor began providing her personal bank details to clients. Her conduct was found by the SDT to be “dishonest and fraudulent”, having occurred “repeatedly over an extended period of approximately six years”.
Parsons pleaded guilty to the criminal charges and bore sole responsibility for her actions the Tribunal heard, while also expressing regret for her actions. The seriousness of the conduct was assessed as “extremely high”, stating she failed to protect client interests and client money and abused her position of trust.
Due to the finding of “dishonesty” the SDT and the SRA agreed the outcome should be for Parsons to be struck off the solicitor’s roll. There was no costs order due to Parson’s financial circumstances.
