A trainee solicitor barred over a conviction for stalking has been allowed back into the profession after 15 months. The Solicitors Regulation Authority said this week that it had agreed to approve Aqeeb Khan working under supervision with west London firm Central Chambers Law Ltd.
Khan was handed a section 43 order by the regulator in June 2021 after it had emerged he was tried and convicted in 2016 of causing his victim serious alarm or distress. Verbal threats were made over the phone and he was found to have followed his victim in a vehicle.
Khan had been sentenced to 18 weeks’ imprisonment, suspended for a year, and ordered to complete 20 days’ rehabilitation activity. He had been unemployed at the time of the offence, but was a trainee solicitor with a Birmingham firm by the time he was sanctioned by the SRA.
The application to employ Khan was made initially by Central Chambers Law in March. He will be supervised at all times by director Mahtab Aziz and by a colleague when Aziz is absent.
Khan will not be allowed to attend clients on remand in prison or at police stations and may not attend other clients in person unless supervised. His telephone calls will be monitored and recorded and he will have no responsibility for other staff. Approval to work will automatically lapse if Khan leaves the firm.
The SRA said: ‘In accordance with section 43 of the Solicitors Act 1974, any solicitor wishing to employ or remunerate him in connection with their practise as a solicitor must obtain our approval. The SRA is satisfied that the above employment will not put public confidence in the administration of justice and the provision of legal services or the interests of clients at risk.’
