A lawyer who got struck off for raiding £116,000 from his client account in relation to a series of housing sales became a registered landlord months later.

Tony Murphy was judged not to be a fit and proper person to be a solicitor but has passed the same test to rent property.

Labour MSP Michael McMahon said his party would try to change the law if the Government did not tighten legislation in this area.

In 2011, the Scottish Solicitors’ Discipline Tribunal (SSDT) found Murphy guilty of professional misconduct following a complaint by the Council of the Law Society of Scotland.

Murphy had acted for a company behind a new housing development, but the sales never went through and prospective buyers only got a fraction of their deposit back.

In a ruling, he was found to have brought the profession into disrepute by allowing a client to sell property to a third party when the client was contractually bound to sell to others.

He was also judged to have “knowingly” told his professional body that accounting records had been destroyed in a flood when they had not been.

The Tribunal noted that his conduct in relation to the records “would be regarded by competent and reputable solicitors as serious and reprehensible”.

In addition, Murphy “recklessly” cleared around £116,000 out of his client account to which he was not entitled.

The SSDT described this behaviour as “totally unacceptable and it puts the Respondent’s personal integrity in severe doubt”.

The outstanding sums were paid back to the clients.

In conclusion, the Tribunal noted: “A solicitor who acts in this way is not acting honestly or with personal integrity and is not a fit and proper person to be a solicitor.”

However, Murphy was never prosecuted.

Since being removed from the solicitors’ roll in 2011, Murphy has built up a portfolio of properties in Hamilton worth over £327,000.

According to Registers of Scotland, this includes six properties owned in his name and one he co-owns, none of which has a mortgage on them.

Murphy was approved as a fit and proper person to be a landlord by South Lanarkshire Council seven months after being struck off as a solicitor.

However, councils do not have many options when considering whether an applicant is fit and proper.

Local authorities can consider information showing that a potential landlord has committed crimes involving fraud, dishonesty, violence, drugs, discrimination, firearms or sexual offences.

Evidence of discrimination in business can also be used, as can anti-social behaviour in properties previously rented out by the landlord.

Getting struck off by a professional body is not listed as one of the issues a council can consider.

McMahon said: “While Labour welcomes the Scottish Government’s consultation on private rented tenancies, it is regrettable that the focus has been solely on the relationship between the tenant and the landlord, but has taken no account of who should be entitled to be a landlord in the first place.

“This situation requires to be dealt with robustly and Scottish Labour will seek to amend the proposed Bill if it fails address the question of who should be considered fit and proper to be a landlord.”

Graeme Brown, the Director of Shelter Scotland, said: “The main problem is that existing legislation in not being enforced rigorously. Local authorities do not apply the fit and proper person test in a meaningful way – making it easier for potential bad landlords to slip through - and existing sanctions to stop landlords who break the law are either seldom used or applied ineffectively.

“The fit and proper person test along with sanctions for bad practice need to be applied much more rigorously and effectively by local authorities and more must be done to ensure that all landlords are registered.”

Ann Gee, Executive Director of Housing and Technical Resources at South Lanarkshire Council, said: “The council has procedures in place to monitor and, if necessary, formally review a landlord’s registration to ensure that the landlord continues to meet the ‘fit and proper person’ test.”

Murphy could not be reached.