‘Banned’ stalker solicitor set for job at city firm
Trainee is being recruited by law firm – despite previous regulator decision
ATRAINEE solicitor barred from the profession for stalking is poised to join another Birmingham legal firm.
Aqeeb Khan was handed the punishment last year by the Solicitors Regulation Authority following a 2016 magistrates’ court conviction for “stalking, causing his victim serious alarm or distress”.
He received an 18-week prison sentence, suspended for a year.
Yet, he is now set to link-up with Central Chambers Law Solicitors.
Central Chambers has a number of high-profile clients, including former world boxing champ Amir Khan.
In light of the criminal conviction, the Solicitors Regulation Authority barred Khan from working for a law firm, under section 43 of the Solicitors Act 1974.
But a customer claimed that Khan was now with Central Chambers Law Solicitors.
Director Mahtab Aziz denied Khan was a current staff member, but admitted steps were being taken to recruit him.
He said the SRA could not “strike off” Khan, from Telford, because he is not a fully fledged solicitor.
Khan was banned from a job he hadn’t yet started, the boss explained.
Mr Aziz added: “Certain steps are being taken so he can work for us. If a person is labelled dishonest, then it is difficult for them to work in the legal profession.
“Here, there is no dishonesty. We have put forward how we are going to work together. It is up to the SRA to approve that.”
Mr Aziz stressed he would abide by the SRA’s decision, adding: “I have been in the profession for 25 years. We do it by the book, that’s how we operate.”
As well as the suspended prison sentence imposed for stalking, Khan was ordered to participate in a rehabilitation activity and was slapped with a restraining order that prevented him from contacting the victim until January 2020.
Khan appealed the conviction at Shrewsbury Crown Court in February, 2018, but was unsuccessful.
He went on to find employment with Maurice Andrews Solicitors, a respected Second City firm that specialises in criminal law.
He did not work for the firm when the offence occurred and had not been the subject of any action by the SRA. Maurice Andrews were entitled to take him on.
In its ruling, published last August, the SRA stated:
“Mr Khan’s conviction related to a course of conduct between January 31, 2016, and February 15, 2016, including making a verbal threat over the telephone and following his victim in a vehicle.
“Mr Khan was not employed at the time the offence occurred. Mr Khan is currently a trainee solicitor with Maurice Andrews Solicitors Ltd of 182 Soho Hill, Birmingham B19 1AG.”
He no longer has any association with Maurice Andrews and was not with them when the offence took place. The SRA described Khan as a “person who is or was involved in a legal practice but is not a solicitor”.
It added: “Mr Khan has been convicted of a criminal offence which is such that it is undesirable for him to be involved in a legal practice in any of the ways described in the order below.” Those stipulations were:
No solicitor shall employ or remunerate him in connection with his practice as a solicitor
No employee of a solicitor shall employ or remunerate him in connection with the solicitor’s practice
No recognised body shall employ or remunerate him
No manager or employee of a recognised body shall employ or remunerate him in connection with the business of that body
No recognised body or manager or employee of such a body shall permit him to be a manager of the body
No recognised body or manager or employee of such a body shall permit him to have an interest in the body
Those rules appear fairly unequivocal, but a spokesman for the SRA confirmed the door remains open for Khan.
And he said Central Chambers’ director is in essence, correct. “You can’t take someone off a roll they are not on, that is why we use section 43 of the Solicitors Act.
“The ball is in Central Chambers’ court. They have to satisfy us over the steps taken to ensure there is no risk to the public.”