THE wife of a crooked lawyer who is accused of being his partner in crime said he kept his sacking for dishonesty a guilty secret for three months before it came tumbling out at a supper party.

Clare Scott laughed incredulously in court as she was asked to go through her husband Giles's credit card bills – something she claimed to be doing for the first time in front of the jury.

The Northern Echo: CHARGES: Solicitor Giles Scott who admits fraud, theft and transferring criminal property.

CHARGES: Solicitor Giles Scott who admits fraud, theft and transferring criminal property

Giles Scott had spent £827 on one night out in a pub called the Durham Ox and was withdrawing around £700 in cash on his credit card every two to three days in month-long spell in the spring of 2015.

But carer and self-employed soft furnishings maker Mrs Scott, 62, claimed to know nothing of it – even though the credit card was linked to their joint bank account.

Asked by her barrister Alasdair Campbell: "How do you feel about the sums racked up on this credit card?" She replied: "I am absolutely staggered . . . and I will be asking him about it."

Mrs Scott, from Stearsby, near Thirsk, North Yorkshire, said she was oblivious to her 63-year-old husband's offending and even the fact that he had lost his job in August of last year.

She told the jury: "The first I knew of this was at a supper party, it was well after his dismissal, it was two or three months afterwards. I was absolutely devastated, I didn't sleep all night."

The prosecution's case is that both Scotts were involved in the dishonesty and lived above their means, but Mrs Scott denies six charges of transferring criminal money.

Mr Scott has admitted a series of fraud and theft charges amounting to more than £400,000 from four elderly clients of York solicitors Langleys - including a retired vicar in poor health.

The jury at Teesside Crown Court has previously heard that Mrs Scott met the former priest 20 years ago in the village church at Brandsby, North Yorkshire, where they sang in the choir.

Mrs Scott concluded her evidence by saying: "I am just so sorry about this whole horrid thing, I am just so sorry for the victims even though I did not do it, but let us hope justice is done."

The trial continues.