Board notice December 2016

The following formal charges were presented by the Investigating Panel to a hearing of the Disciplinary Board of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers on 26 July 2016.

It was alleged that Mr Paul R Tonkin CEng MIMechE acted in breach of By-laws 29 and 33 and Regulations 7 and 12 of the Code of Conduct Regulations as set out below and as a consequence was guilty of improper conduct:

By-law 29: All members are ambassadors of the Institution and must therefore conduct themselves in a manner that upholds and enhances the reputations of the Institution, the profession of Mechanical Engineering and the Institution’s members.

By-law 33: In these By-laws and the Code of Conduct Regulations “improper conduct” shall mean a failure to comply with By-laws 29 to 31 or the Code of Conduct Regulations or ...... any act or omission which shall have rendered the member unfit to remain a member of the Institution or shall be injurious to the Institution.

Regulation 7/7.1 of the Code of Conduct Regulations: Members shall ... at all times so order their conduct as to uphold the dignity and reputation of their profession and to safeguard the public interest.

Regulation 12/12.1 of the Code of Conduct Regulations: Members shall act honourably, responsibly, and lawfully so as to uphold the reputation, standing and dignity of the profession in general and the Institution in particular.

The charges concerned various criminal offences to which Mr Tonkin pleaded guilty in January 2015.

Following Mr Tonkin’s unqualified admission of culpability, the Board found all the charges against Mr Tonkin of improper conduct pursuant to By-laws 29 and 33 and Regulations 7 and 12 of the Code of Conduct Regulations proven.

Consideration of mitigating circumstances, and the determination and order of the appropriate penalty was adjourned to the hearing of the Disciplinary Board of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers on 29 November 2016.

Order

Under the powers conferred by By-law 35 and Regulation 29 of the Disciplinary Regulations the Board ordered that Mr Tonkin should be expelled from the Institution.  The Board also ordered under the powers conferred by Regulation 37 of the Disciplinary Regulations that the findings of improper conduct together with the penalty imposed should be published by the Institution.

F Christopher Price OBE CEng FREng FIMechE
Chair, Disciplinary Board
Institution of Mechanical Engineers
7 December 2016
Registered Address: One Birdcage Walk, London SW1H 9JJ, UK.
Charity No. 206882