Possessed over 150 indecent images
A former Magic Circle IT worker has been banned from the legal profession after being convicted of 13 offences, including sexually assaulting a child.
Joseph Clifford worked at Freshfields as part of the firm’s IT department up until his arrest. Clifford was arrested in December 2023 after a police raid on his home raised concerns about his online activity. Although he remained silent during the initial interview, the full extent of his wrongdoing soon came to light.
Ultimately he would end up confessing to 13 separate charges. These included assaulting and sexually assaulting a child under 13, causing a child to engage in sexual activity, and making and possessing indecent photographs of a child, all of which took place between September 2022 and December 2023.
These images, as reported by The Liverpool Echo at the time, included several category A images and a video created by Clifford, along with 55 category A images he had downloaded, and more than 100 other items. Category A refers to the most serious examples of abuse.
Once the firm was notified of Clifford’s arrest he was immediately dismissed. A notice published by the SRA also confirms that his actions took place outside of the workplace, and none of the firm’s IT equipment was used.
Clifford was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with an additional year on license, alongside a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
The SRA has now dished out its own sanction in the form of a section 43 order. This prevents Clifford from being employed by a law firm without the SRA’s prior approval.
He was also ordered to pay £600 in costs to the regulator.