Toby Richard Matthews

Introduction

Toby Richard Matthews is a solicitor who was admitted to the roll in 2013 and served as a director of Axiom Ince, the defunct law firm. In August 2026 he was struck off the roll for amending a counsel’s fee invoice and making up the shortfall from the wrong account. Matthews, who was 42 years old at the time of the proceedings, admitted he had altered a receipt and VAT invoice to give the misleading impression that they had been discounted, and then paid the altered fee from a different client ledger. His case did not reach a contested hearing: he admitted dishonesty and agreed an outcome with the Solicitors Regulation Authority, which the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal approved.

Background Information

Axiom Ince, the firm where Matthews served as a director, went into administration in 2023, and it subsequently emerged that £64 million was missing in client money. The tribunal ruling in his case made no link, however, between Matthews’ misconduct and the matters leading to the firm’s closure: his conduct arose from a single matter in 2022, connected to failed civil litigation, rather than from the events that sank the firm. Matthews had been admitted in 2013. When the case reached the tribunal, he pointed to a clean disciplinary record, telling the tribunal he had never had any disciplinary issues since qualifying.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Adjudicated. Matthews admitted the allegations. The case was resolved through an agreed outcome with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA): he admitted dishonesty, agreed to be struck off the roll and to pay £5,000 in costs, and the tribunal rubber-stamped the deal. What follows are regulatory findings from that disciplinary process — not criminal convictions.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal heard that the issue arose in 2022, when a client raised payment matters after failed civil litigation. In order to pretend that the client owed no money for counsel, Matthews amended a receipt by removing a reference to a payment of £2,950. The firm — not knowing it had been amended — provided the client a copy of the altered receipt as proof that all fees had been paid. Matthews admitted he had altered a receipt and VAT invoice to give the misleading impression that they had been discounted; he then paid the altered fee from a different client ledger.

When he was subsequently asked to explain the discrepancy, Matthews admitted altering a fee note and was immediately suspended. At a later meeting, he said he had set up the payment from a different client ledger, explaining that he was ‘in a panic and made a spur of the moment decision’. He added that he had intended to pay counsel’s fee personally.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The fallout ran through the regulatory system rather than the criminal courts. Matthews told the tribunal that he had made early admissions, co-operated fully with the SRA investigation, and had never had any disciplinary issues since qualifying; there was, he said, no personal gain from this isolated incident. On the substance, though, he admitted dishonesty and agreed with the Solicitors Regulation Authority to be struck off and to pay £5,000 in costs — an outcome the tribunal rubber-stamped. The first consequence had come earlier, and swiftly: when he was asked to explain the discrepancy and admitted altering the fee note, he was immediately suspended. The agreed outcome then removed him from the roll altogether.

Current Status

Matthews is struck off the roll of solicitors and is liable for £5,000 in costs. His removal was effected by agreement — he admitted dishonesty and agreed with the SRA to be struck off, with the tribunal approving the outcome — in a ruling reported in August 2026. The tribunal’s ruling made no link between his misconduct and the matters leading to Axiom Ince’s administration in 2023, in which £64 million in client money was found to be missing. Matthews was 42 at the time of the ruling.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Struck off at 42, Matthews has lost the solicitor status he had held since being admitted in 2013, and the case leaves him with an admitted finding of dishonesty — the charge he conceded by agreeing the outcome with the SRA. The deal also carries the £5,000 costs payment. In mitigation he pointed to his early admissions, his full co-operation with the SRA investigation, a record with no disciplinary issues since qualifying, and the fact that there was no personal gain from this isolated incident; he said he had acted ‘in a panic and made a spur of the moment decision’ and had intended to pay counsel’s fee personally. None of that changed the endpoint: removal from the roll, approved by the tribunal, for conduct the ruling kept entirely separate from Axiom Ince’s collapse.

Sources

• Law Gazette, “Former Axiom Ince director struck off for altering counsel receipt,” Aug 24, 2026. source