1. Our solicitors represented the owner of a group of retirement homes who was prosecuted for breaches of Care Homes Regulations following the outbreak of a fire at one of his homes. The proceedings were concluded but as a registered nurse he was required to attend at the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) to determine whether his “fitness to practice” had been impaired. Stephensons represented the client at a hearing of oral submissions, after which the Directorate was persuaded that it was not appropriate to take any action against him so his registration was not affected.
2. Our solicitors represented an appellant in relation to a statutory appeal to the Administrative Court. The appeal was against a decision of the Disciplinary Committee of the Hearing Aid Council to erase the Appellant's name from the register of dispensers of hearing aids and to order him to pay costs. The original Disciplinary Committee found that the Appellant's behaviour had fallen below the standard of conduct required. The appeal involved arguments about time limits, procedural irregularities and proportionality, both in relation to the sanction imposed and the level of costs awarded.
3. Our solicitors acted on behalf of a client who received a Warning Notice from the Regulatory Decisions Committee (RDC) at the Financial Services Authority (FSA). This Notice would have had the impact of prohibiting any function specified as a controlled function under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. It would also have caused him to be suspended from trading as an insurance agent for two years.
The Notice was challenged by Stephensons and oral representations were made to the FSA at their offices in Canary Wharf. The Decision Notice issued by the FSA was then challenged by a referral to the Financial Services and Markets Tribunal. The case involved submissions about proportionality and the severity of the decision on the business as well as the authorised individual.
4. Our solicitors and In-house Counsel Steven Swift represented a retired Police Sergeant at appeal who had previously been convicted of a public order offence after a ‘road rage’ incident with an on-duty Police Inspector.
At the appeal at Liverpool Crown Court, Judge Morrow QC said that the Inspector’s account was ‘not tenable and was unrealistic’. He also said the Inspector had ‘misused his position’ in dealing with our client. Our client was therefore acquitted of any wrong doing. This case was reported in the Manchester Evening News in September 2009: Ex-Cop Cleared Over Road Rage Attack
