North Yorkshire coroner Jeremy Cave abused the trust of his closest friends and neighbours when he stole from the estates of six dead people. Lindsay Jennings reports on the criminal path the solicitor took to keep up his comfortable lifestyle

WITH his polished brogues, smoker's pipe and Land Rover Discovery, Jeremy Cave was the epitome of the traditional country gentleman.

His friends were all professionals types - doctors, estate agents and fellow solicitors - and Cave was considered to be a popular raconteur at the various business and social events he attended locally.

He had many of the trappings of wealth: he lived in a big detached house in Croft Heads, Sowerby, North Yorkshire, and in the late 1990s could often be spotted around the streets of Sowerby and Thirsk in his expensive Mercedes SLK sports car.

His children, aged 18 and 20, attended private boarding schools, and the family went on their annual £3,000 skiing holiday every Christmas, as well as their two weeks in Portugal during the summer.

Cave, who earned about £100,000 a year, had been a respected solicitor for more than 20 years, rising from an article clerk with Punch Robson, in Northallerton, in the 1970s, to securing his own practice, in Market Place, Thirsk, in 1989.

He lived what many middle class people would describe as a "comfortable" existence.

He was well liked, and even those whose trust he has utterly betrayed look at him now with sadness and find it hard to say a bad word about his fall from grace.

Many of the people he has effectively ripped off feel he has been "foolish" and are reluctant to judge him.

His staff were said to be in tears when he was forced to sell his Thirsk practice in June 2000, after it was closed down by the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors.

Simon Crosfield, who has a solicitor's practice in Ripon and has known Cave professionally for more than 25 years, recalled a man who always seemed to put his clients first - a characteristic all too uncommon in his profession, he admitted.

He said: "I think all of us regarded Jeremy as a bit of a card - in the best possible way - and a conscientious lawyer. He said to me: 'If I was guilty, I would put my hand up straight away, but I haven't done anything wrong'."

Cave was appointed deputy coroner for North Yorkshire's western district in 1984 and became coroner for the area ten years later.

As a coroner, he had a good rapport with the Press, and several experienced journalists recall him as an amiable man who would go out of his way to be kind to the grieving families. Married to Susan for many years, he was a devoted family man.

Sian Roberts, the former Richmond reporter for The Northern Echo, who now lives in North Wales, said: "As a journalist, you learn to become quite cynical about certain people, but he wasn't one of them. He was never someone I would say 'that doesn't surprise me' about.

"He was very amiable and professional, and he was very courteous and kind to the victim's families."

Stephen Hubbard, who owns electrical shop Tavea, in Thirsk, said he had used Cave as a solicitor and found that any business on his behalf had always been conducted in a "professional way".

"He Cave is a clever man with a dry sense of humour - a community type of person," said Mr Hubbard before the verdict.

"I would be very surprised if it did turn out against him."

A friend of Cave's, who did not want to be named, added: "I couldn't be critical. He is a kind man. It's really sad, and he is sad when you see him now."

It became clear as the lengthy trial wore on that Cave's practice had been struggling during the 1990s after two partners retired and sold their shares in the business back to him.

But instead of tightening his belt, he dipped into his client's accounts and helped himself to thousands of pounds. Nor did the difficulties stop him from splashing out on expensive cars.

Throughout his trial, Cave consistently denied he had been dishonest, instead pleading "incompetence".

However, he could not justify his actions; in many cases he could not remember transactions, but always maintained that his charges were fair.

But this holds little sway with some.

A Thirsk man, who also asked for his name to be withheld, said Cave had reportedly told a friend after he was charged: "I've been caught with my hand in the till."

Another said: "I feel very, very disappointed, just totally let down. No one will ever trust him again.

"But he'll probably bounce back - like Jeffrey Archer."

Cave was reportedly on the brink of retirement when he was forced to sell his business to Thirsk solicitors Shirtcliffe and Co, after the Law Society made their move.

He told friends he was looking forward to writing poetry and books. He will now get his wish - from inside a prison cell