Several MPs have asked the regulator why convicted stalker Andrew Milne is still on the roll, claiming the solicitor has caused their constituents ‘an unimaginable amount of stress’
Andrew Jonathan Milne (pictured) has become one of the country’s highest-profile solicitors, in more ways than one. This week the 63-year-old was handed a 24-month community order requiring him to complete 300 hours of unpaid work and 20 days of rehabilitation, after he was found to have stalked a court blogger.
Milne, admitted in 1986, was convicted of stalking without fear in February after a seven-day trial at Stratford Magistrates’ Court. His conduct toward Daniel Cloake, who runs the ‘Mouse in Court’ blog, was said to amount to harassment. Ten days later, the Solicitors Regulation Authority restricted Milne’s practising certificate. He may not act as a solicitor without the supervision of an authorised person in 2025/26.
Four MPs have written to the SRA demanding tougher action against Milne – but on a different ground altogether: alleged threats to leaseholders. ‘Mr Milne’s actions have caused a number of our constituents an unimaginable amount of stress, while many have told us they may not ever financially recover from this situation,’ alleged Olivia Blake, Abtisam Mohamed, Louise Haigh and Phil Brickell. ‘Mr Milne is still an SRA-accredited solicitor. We believe that Mr Milne’s conviction makes it absolutely clear that he is not fit to be a solicitor’.
In January, Brickell, Labour MP for Bolton West, told the Commons: ‘For years, solicitor Andrew Milne has been bullying, threatening and harassing leaseholders, including my Horwich constituents, into buying freeholds off him at massively inflated prices – sometimes as much as £25,000 – yet the SRA has done nothing to stop his outrageous behaviour, which has caused immeasurable pain and suffering to my constituents.
‘Homeowners in Bolton West should not have to live in fear of being ripped off by crooked lawyers, so will the leader of the House [Sir Alan Campbell] set aside government time for a debate on the lack of action by the [SRA] in cracking down on lawyers like Milne, who continue to act with impunity?’
Campbell described the case as ‘concerning’, adding: ‘I am sure the whole House will join me in condemning the behaviour my honourable friend describes.’
Justice minister Sarah Sackman said she would be writing to the SRA for an ‘update and assurance about what action is being taken or what action it intends to take’.
'Andrew Milne has been bullying, threatening and harassing leaseholders, including my Horwich constituents, into buying freeholds off him at massively inflated prices – sometimes as much as £25,000 – yet the SRA has done nothing to stop his outrageous behaviour'
Phil Brickell, MP for Bolton West
Blake, Labour MP for Sheffield Hallam, returned to the subject of Milne in a debate on commonhold and leasehold reform: ‘Over 170 houses in my constituency have had their freeholds purchased by Andrew Milne, who is now demanding that residents pay sums sometimes exceeding £25,000 to buy out the freeholds, and is threatening forfeiture and High Court action if they do not pay. I welcome the minister’s commitment to ending forfeiture, but will he set out what additional steps that government are taking to regulate rogue freeholders?’
There is no suggestion that Milne has acted illegally in respect of leaseholds. But housing minister Matthew Pennycook told Blake a meeting would be arranged with her and other MPs.
Milne has also been the subject of fierce criticism from the bench. His Honour Judge Keyser KC, in Moira Rose Goulden v Andrew Jonathan Milne [2024] EW Misc 1 (CC), said he did ‘not consider [Milne] to be an honest or credible man’. Keyser referred his judgment to the SRA ‘for consideration and, if appropriate, investigation’.
The judgment, handed down in January 2024, dealt with a preliminary issue over the acquisition of a freehold estate, of which Milne was the freeholder. It said: ‘[Milne’s] counter-notice… is redolent of bad faith. For his own ends, he is willing to resort to intimidatory and threatening language, advancing allegations that he cannot possibly believe to be justified.’
A ruling handed down the following month by Master Brightwell in Andrew Jonathan Milne v Open Access Finance Limited & Anor [2024] EWHC 671 (Ch), said Milne ‘comes across as obfuscatory, tendentious and facetious’. The judge added that it was ‘apparent to me that some of what the claimant has said in evidence may be less than transparent and straightforward and he does not come across in his witness statements as such an individual’.
Milne’s correspondence ‘shows an aggressive and antagonistic form of communication’, said Brightwell.
An SRA spokesperson said: ‘We have serious concerns regarding Mr Milne’s conviction for stalking, as well as wider allegations which have been made. Our priority is to protect the public. This is why, as a result of his conviction, we have imposed a condition upon him which means he may not act as a solicitor without being supervised by a further solicitor, who we have approved to act in this capacity.’
The Gazette approached Milne for comment. His law firm, Andrew Milne & Co, previously told The Sheffield Tribune that it denied any allegations of impropriety.
