Harrison’s ex-lawyer struck off

Boxer’s brief was accused of lying about appeal dealings

NORMAN SYLVESTER

A lawyer accused of lying to Cambuslang boxer Scott Harrison about his chances of a successful appeal has been struck off.

Steven Lilly was suspended and then sacked from his job after the former world champion complained about his behaviour.

Now, the 39-year-old has been found guilty of misconduct and was banned from practising law at a Scottish Solicitors Discipline Tribunal (SSDT) hearing in Edinburgh earlier this month.

The judgment on why the tribunal ended Lilly’s career as a solicitor is expected to be released within the next six weeks.

Harrison was jailed in Spain for four years in 2015 for an attack on three men outside a brothel in Malaga.

In 2016, Spanish authorities granted him permission to return home to serve the remainder of his sentence.

The former featherweight champion instructed Lilly to appeal against his conviction on the grounds that he had been sentenced twice in Spain for the same offence.

It was alleged that the lawyer told Harrison he had an appeal hearing scheduled for April 2017.

The boxer also claimed Lilly said he had applied for him to be released from prison while the appeal was ongoing.

However Harrison, freed in 2018, discovered during a call to Lilly’s employers Bruce The Lawyers in Motherwell that his solicitor had not carried out the work.

He was also informed he did not have grounds for an appeal.

The SSDT said a tribunal made a finding of professional misconduct and Lilly was struck off.

It refused to give any details of the complaint against Lilly pending any appeal by him against the disqualification.

But it said a written judgment would be made public within the next few weeks if Lilly accepted his punishment.

An internal investigation was launched by Bruce The Lawyers following Harrison’s allegations and Lilly was suspended before leaving his job. Harrison, who won two world titles, served the remainder of his sentence at Shotts Prison, Lanarkshire, and HMP Barlinnie in Glasgow.

In March 2016, while practising on his own, Lilly was also found guilty of professional misconduct in an unrelated case by the SSDT and censured.

A probe found he failed two clients in their compensation claims, ignored their complaints and failed to cooperate with a Law Society of Scotland investigation.

One client hired Lilly to sue a property firm but he put the wrong company name on the action and it was thrown out.

In its 2016 judgment, the SSDT branded his conduct “serious” and “reprehensible”.

It said: “His behaviour was such to bring his trustworthiness into question. There are certain standards of conduct expected of competent and reputable solicitors.”

Bruce The Lawyers confirmed Lilly had been dismissed over his handling of Harrison’s case in 2017, but declined to comment further.