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Forster a "Disgrace"

DISGRACED Stranraer lawyer Kennedy Forster's fraudulent past has been condemned by Scotland's top solicitor as "appalling".

Joe Platt, President of the Law Society of Scotland, said Forster - who was jailed for six and a half years on Thursday for embezzling £667,000 of his clients' money - had let down the profession.

Forster was struck off the Society's roll of solicitors in April 2001 after a disciplinary tribunal. The Society kept a tight lip on their involvement with the case while criminal proceedings were active.

But Mr Platt broke his silence in an interview with the Free Press this week, saying Forster's conduct was a "terrible blow for our profession and his customers".

He said it was the worst case of its kind he could remember in Scotland in the last 10 years. Mr Platt said:

"The conduct of Kennedy Forster was nothing short of appalling and I know a lot of the local solicitors feel badly about it too.

"They feel completely let down that somebody in their midst could be so dishonest as to embezzle more than £600,000 of clients' money.

"This has been a terrible blow for our profession and Forster's clients. His conduct was disgraceful and that is why he can no longer practice as a solicitor in Scotland."