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SRA bars Dentons employee from profession

A Dentons employee has been barred from the profession after being imprisoned in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for drug smuggling.

According to a Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) notice, Riyad Awada, a non-solicitor based in the UAE offices of Dentons, was arrested following a flight from Lebanon.

The SRA imposed a section 43 order, preventing Awada from working for any firm regulated in England and Wales without securing the regulator’s permission.

Substances

He was found with a quantity of drugs and initially denied knowledge of the contents of his bags, but later admitted the substances found were for his personal use, the England and Wales Gazette reports.

In October last year, Awada was convicted of importing cocaine and amphetamine in unauthorised circumstances.

He was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment and fined 120,000 dirhams (around £24,000).

Appeals to higher courts in Abu Dhabi were both dismissed.

His conviction was unrelated to legal practice, the SRA said.