A CAERPHILLY woman has been hit with a fine, having been found to have accepted work at a solicitors firm - without telling her employers of a previous conviction.

Between October 4 and October 5, 2021, Dianne Elizabeth Spragg was found to have accepted work at Devonalds, a solicitors firm in Pontypridd.

However, she had previously been convicted of a criminal offence, and as a result, the firm would have had to secure written permission from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to employ her.

But, at a hearing held at Mid Wales Magistrates’ Court in Merthyr Tydfil on Wednesday, March 16, the court heard Spragg had failed to disclose to her would-be employers that the order, under Section 43 of the Solicitors Act 1974, was in place.

There is no indication that the 55-year-old’s prospective employers had any knowledge of the order, or of the previous conviction.

The court heard that Spragg “accepted employment by a solicitor, namely Devonalds, in connection with that solicitor's practice without previously informing that person of the order.”

At the hearing, Spragg, of Elm Grove, Caerphilly, was found guilty in her absence.

She has been fined £220, and ordered to pay £1,665.60 in costs.

The court also ordered her to pay a £34 surcharge to fund victim services.
Devonalds has made it clear that Spragg never began work at the firm.