Home secretary rallies to Hossack’s defence

Yvonne Hossack, who campaigns against care home closures and the removal of live-in wardens, called Mr Johnson as a defence witness at the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal in London.

The minister said she had represented his constituents ‘effectively’ in a battle against the closure of a care home in Hull, Rokeby House.

She asked him: ‘Does it concern you that your constituents may be unrepresented by me at the final hearing of their case?’

Mr Johnson said: ‘Yes, it would concern me if my constituents were unrepresented.’

Ms Hossack is accused of six breaches of rules governing solicitors’ conduct, including accessing instructions from third parties without seeking clarification of the position and providing confidential information for third parties.

Mr Johnson said he remains vehemently opposed to the closure of Rokeby House. Ms Hossack asked him whether he agreed with Hull Council’s complaint that her efforts to prevent three men being moved from that home brought her profession into disrepute.

He said: ‘I’m not aware of the code of honour that solicitors abide by, but as a constituency MP, representing my constituents, I wouldn’t agree with that.’

He agreed he had sent her emails praising her work. One said there was a large gin and tonic waiting for her on the Strangers’ Bar in the House of Commons if she came to London.

Giving evidence herself, Ms Hossack told the tribunal she did not believe there had ever been a conflict between her clients’ interests and her profession’s rules.

‘But if somebody was falling off a cliff, and they were blind and deaf, I would ignore the rule that says “keep off the grass”, in trying to grab them back,’ she continued.

She agreed with Jonathan Goodwin, for the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority, that it was important for a solicitor to obtain full and accurate instructions. But she added: ‘There are clients from whom it is impossible to do that, and then I look for their best interests. Sometimes they cannot speak or be understood, then what I do is to ascertain their views and feelings and thoughts.’

The tribunal was continuing as Inside Housing went to press.

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