Christmas: Victim was wearning ‘Jingle my bells’ jumper
A veteran solicitor who continues to dispute his conviction for sexual assault has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT).
“The seriousness of the misconduct was self-evident and no sanction less than a strike off would be sufficient to protect the public and the reputation of the profession,” it said.
Timothy John Luckhurst-Matthews, 73, was an in-house solicitor at The Thompson Group at the time, having qualified in 1986.
According to a BBC report of his trial, a female colleague was wearing a festive jumper, which bore the slogan ‘Jingle my bells’, when she encountered Mr Luckhurst-Matthews in December 2022.
When she said she could not believe he had not commented on it, he shoved his hand up her top and groped her for five seconds.
In June 2025, he received a 10-month custodial sentence, suspended for two years, with 40 rehabilitation activity days.
He was required to register with the police for 10 years and to keep them informed of his personal details, while a five-year restraining order prohibited any contact with the victim. He was also ordered to pay £1,200 of prosecution costs.
Mr Luckhurst-Matthews represented himself at the trial and appealed on the basis that it was unfair because for most of it he was required to sit in the dock, which did not have a table where he could spread his papers out and lean on to take notes.
The Court of Appeal rejected in January 2026. While the trial judge could have allowed him to conduct his case from counsel’s bench, her failure to do so fell “far short” of being so unfair as to justify quashing the conviction.
“Mr Luckhurst-Matthews was unable to take notes, at least to a significant extent, but he had no difficulty remembering what had been said and no difficulty presenting his case,” the court said.
“Whether there were shortcomings in his closing submissions or not, his evidence, which he gave on oath to the jury, was clear and they were able to assess it.”
In March, the Court of Appeal refused the certificate of general public importance which was necessary for the appeal to proceed to the Supreme Court. Mr Luckhurst-Matthews has now lodged a further appeal at the European Court of Human Rights.
However, he acknowledged that – notwithstanding his denial of the allegations of which he had been convicted – he was not able to rebut the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) case against him until such time as the conviction was overturned.
The SDT struck him off but reduced the costs claimed by the SRA from £11,000 to £4,000, finding that the case could have been concluded more quickly; Mr Luckhurst-Matthews had told the SRA he had no objection to his name being voluntarily removed from the roll of solicitors pending a successful appeal.
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