Alaw firm director whose vulnerable client pleaded guilty to criminal charges when they were not fit to plead has been fined £3,800 by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

According to a regulatory settlement agreement published this week, Oliver Arthur D’Sa, admitted in 1984 and director of Leicester firm Oliver D’Sa, knew his client, ‘KI’, was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder when he represented him in relation to criminal charges.

At an online hearing which D’Sa did not attend but arranged for counsel to represent KI, his client pleaded guilty to the charges. Two months later, D’Sa received reports from a forensic psychiatrist and chartered psychologist that said KI presented with high levels of anxiety, suicidal ideation and features of a learning disability, and did not have the capacity to make a plea, form instructions for his solicitors, and would struggle to follow court proceedings.