Junior accountants have criticised the audit regulator for its “harsh” pursuit of ex-KPMG junior Pratik Paw, who is facing a lengthy ban and a £50,000 fine for his role in misleading inspectors probing the Big Four firm’s audit of Carillion.

KPMG was fined £14m after a tribunal found a team of its ex-auditors, led by former partner Peter Meehan, forged documents to cover up shortcomings in the firm’s 2016 audit of outsourcer Carillion.