AC-2024-LON-000040 - [2025] EWHC 1965 (Admin)

By allegation 1.2, Mr Cottam was alleged, between May 2016 and May 2018, to have prepared or caused to be prepared, false invoices in respect of improper client account to office account transfers, as set out in Schedule 1 and in doing so he thereby breached Principles 2 and 6 of the SRA Principles 2011.

It was common ground before the Tribunal that the invoices in question, on which Mr Cottam’s initials appeared, were false. In the circumstances, the Tribunal identified the question before it as being whether Mr Cottam prepared the invoices, or caused them to be prepared. Examining the evidence relevant to that issue, the Tribunal noted that the relevant transfers could not happen without Mr Cottam’s knowledge but that the creation of invoices was not something that required Mr Cottam’s input and that Mr Cottam had not admitted to creating the invoices in question during his interview with Mr Cassini. The Tribunal was not satisfied that the fact that Mr Cottam’s initials appeared on the false invoices was sufficient to prove that he had created those invoices.

Within this context, the Tribunal concluded that it was not satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the SRA had discharged the burden of proof to show that Mr Cottam had either prepared or caused to be prepared the false invoices and found this allegation not proved.