Robert Wiggans banned for life over £86k theft of client funds at Yorkshire practice

Robert Nigel Wiggans struck off after siphoning £86k from client funds to cover firm’s costs

A veteran Yorkshire solicitor has been struck off the roll after raiding his firm’s client account of more than £86,000 to prop up its struggling finances.

Robert Nigel Wiggans, 59, admitted making five improper transfers between November 2015 and August 2016 while he was a partner at Dewsbury-based firm Hellewell Pasley & Brewer. The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) heard that Wiggans, who was also the firm’s Compliance Officer for Finance and Administration, moved client money into the office account to pay overheads, leaving a cash shortfall of £86,150.

The panel concluded that his misconduct, which included dishonesty, represented a grave breach of trust. Wiggans had been admitted as a solicitor in 1987 and was an experienced practitioner with senior responsibilities. Despite his insistence that he intended to repay the money when finances allowed, the tribunal ruled that the harm to the profession was already “substantial and irreparable”.

In its written judgment, the SDT said Wiggans’s culpability was “high” because he had deliberately authorised the withdrawals over a period of months, rather than committing a single lapse. The misconduct, it said, had caused inevitable damage to the public’s confidence in the integrity of solicitors.

The tribunal noted that client funds are considered sacrosanct and should never be used to support a firm’s expenses. By using client money to cover running costs, Wiggans had exposed clients to the risk of loss and brought the reputation of the legal profession into disrepute.

Although the tribunal acknowledged that Wiggans had taken responsibility and offered mitigation, including character references describing him as well regarded in both his professional and personal life, the panel found no exceptional circumstances that could justify a lesser sanction.

It observed that while Wiggans had been under pressure at the time and expressed remorse, the deliberate nature of the misconduct left striking-off as the only proportionate outcome. Lesser penalties such as a reprimand, fine or suspension were deemed wholly inadequate given the dishonesty involved.

“The only appropriate and proportionate sanction was that the respondent be struck off the roll,” the tribunal concluded.

The SDT also approved an agreed order requiring Wiggans to pay £9,777.96 towards the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s costs.

Wiggans, whose practising certificate had already been suspended following the SRA’s intervention at the firm, did not attend the hearing, which was dealt with on the papers by agreement between the parties.

The judgment underscores the regulator’s zero-tolerance stance on solicitors misusing client funds, even where practitioners intend to repay the sums. The tribunal stressed that public confidence relies on solicitors being trusted without question to safeguard client money, and any breach of that trust amounts to serious professional misconduct.

With his name now struck off the roll, Wiggans is barred from practising as a solicitor. The tribunal’s decision ends a legal career of more than three decades and serves as a reminder of the severe consequences when professional standards are compromised.