An Adelaide lawyer found guilty in 2014 of possessing child pornography has been struck off the roll.
Gregory Donovan Gwynfor Morcom is not fit to be a lawyer, the Legal Profession Conduct Commissioner told the South Australian Supreme Court,
ABC reports.
Morcom, who practiced law from his home, was found guilty of six counts of possession of child pornography and possession of an unlicensed firearm in 2014.
The full court noted that Morcom spent some time in jail after violating a suspended sentence not long after he became a law practitioner in South Australia in 2005.
“The child pornography and firearm charges are both offences of a nature that carry such a stigma, and reveal such defects of character, that they tend to undermine the ability of the practitioner to command the necessary respect of clients and other members of the legal profession,” wrote Chief Justice Chris Kourakis, Justice Malcolm Blue and Justice Sam Doyle.
“Allowing practicians with convictions of this nature to continue to practise also carries a risk of damaging the reputation and standing of the legal profession in the public eye,” they added.
The pornographic material was discovered on two computers when the Organised Crime Investigation Branch searched Morcom’s home in 2011. Morcom, after being found guilty, denied he had any sexual interest in children.
Offences Morcom had done according to the Legal Profession Conduct Commissioner includes breaching a suspended sentence bond and a bail agreement, practicing law despite undertaking not to, testing positive for methylamphetamine and falsifying a customs declaration to import 12 ice pipes and an electronic shock device.
Morcom’s past offending and his conviction on possession child pornography charges were all considered by the Supreme Court in the decision to strike him off the roll.
Related stories:
Lawyer disbarred for professional misconduct
Convicted drug trafficker makes bid to resume career
