Parsons: Recently release on licence
A conveyancing solicitor jailed for 30 months after defrauding a Hereford law firm out of at least £161,000 has now been struck off.
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) heard that, as well as having hundreds of clients transfer nearly £250,000 into her own personal bank account rather than the firm’s – some £88,000 was later paid back – Fiona Hunter Blair Parsons also took an unknown number of payments in cash.
In some cases, she requested money for searches that were never carried out.
Ms Parsons qualified at Lamb Corner in 1998 and was a partner between 2002 and 2012 before stepping down but continuing as a conveyancing solicitor.
Her actions were discovered in January 2023, when the firm contacted a client concerning an outstanding balance on a conveyancing matter, only to be told that they had paid £400 directly to Ms Parsons.
Lamb Corner began an investigation, dismissed her the following month and reported her to the police.
In April 2025, the then 54-year-old pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position at Worcester Crown Court and was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment.
The police investigation established that Ms Parsons had got into financial difficulties and in 2016 began to provide clients with her personal bank details.
In mitigation put before the tribunal, she apologised to the panel, the Law Society, her colleagues and clients.
She said she fully accepted responsibility for her actions but with hindsight “is now of the view that her mental health was far more of an issue than she had appreciated at the time. It was likely to have played some part in her irrational and out-of-character decision making over the period of her misconduct”.
She put character evidence used in the trial before the tribunal “to demonstrate the many good qualities” she had.
Ms Parsons has recently been released on licence from jail, where she was a “trusted prisoner”, working in “various roles supporting other prisoners”.
She also co-operated with the police and Crown Prosecution Service in surrendering her remaining assets and being made subject to a confiscation order under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
But she did not assert that the SDT should do anything other than strike her off, which it duly did.
With the agreement of the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the SDT made no costs order because of Ms Parsons’ financial circumstances.
Leave a Comment