A previous DWF partner Manchester Paedophile, David Storry Walton, has been removed from the register following involvement in a “sting operation” conducted by a paedophile hunter organisation.
David Storry Walton, 68, was convicted in October 2023 at Manchester Crown Court for deliberately seeking to engage in communication with an individual under 16 “for the purpose of sexual gratification.”
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) observed that his conduct was characterised as “sexual in nature, specifically involving the transmission of sexually explicit photographs, discussions regarding masturbation, and enquiries about sexual preference.”
David Storry Walton received a community order with a rehabilitation requirement and was registered as a sex offender for five years.
In dealing with the matter through an agreed outcome, the SDT concluded that striking David Storry Walton off the roll was “the only appropriate and proportionate sanction”, given the “serious nature of the offence”.
It was noted that David Storry Walton was arrested at his home in November 2019 as the result of a “sting” operation by a paedophile hunter group. He reported his arrest to the regulator within a few days, and the firm also notified the regulator. Walton left DWF in December 2019.
“The offence related to a decoy as opposed to a genuine child, and there was therefore no victim to the offence”, the statement said.
During his sentencing at Manchester Crown Court, His Honour Judge Conrad said: “What you did was very wrong, of course. I get the impression from reading the messages and reading what is said about the messages that in fact the perverted thrill for you was in the conversation itself rather than any concluded intention of meeting the other person, and it is of note that it stopped on 24th October and it was only a couple of weeks later when they came round to your house after everything else had gone silent.”
“It has, of course, been a matter of great shame to you and you have shown some courage in bringing it out in the open with those who know you and highly respect you; in fact, rarely have I seen such an impressive body of testimonials,” the judge continued. “I am as confident as I can be that no criminal court will ever see you again.”
David Storry Walton, who qualified in June 1981, was struck off the roll and ordered to pay costs of £3,000.
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