A coroner and solicitor was yesterday found guilty of stealing almost £155,000 from the estates of his dead clients.

Jeremy Cave, 53, who has been a solicitor in Thirsk, North Yorkshire, for 20 years, was convicted of overcharging six of his clients.

Cave, of The Grange, Balk, Thirsk, had denied ten counts of theft from the beneficiaries of dead clients between 1990 and 2000.

He was cleared of one charge yesterday and the jury will continue their deliberations at Teesside Crown Court today on a further three charges.

The long-running trial began on November 18 last year.

Over the weeks, the court heard that Cave "grossly overcharged" the estates of dead clients at his practice in the market town of Thirsk.

Andrew Wheeler, prosecuting, said Cave's costs were 250 per cent higher than those assessed by Law Society taxation officials investigating his affairs.

But the father-of-two had denied dishonesty, saying he was "incompetent" but not a thief.

Yesterday, he was convicted of stealing £88,420 from the estate of Ethel Johnson, who died in 1990, aged 89.

One of the will's executors, Samuel Ballard, had told the court that while the complex £850,000 estate was being processed, he received bills totalling £86,000 from Cave which he thought was "an enormous amount of money".

He described Cave, the coroner for the western district of North Yorkshire, as a "dear friend" and a "good man".

Cave was also convicted of stealing £38,925 from the £625,000 estate of Harry Manning - who left a considerable portion of his money to the Salvation Army.

Salvation Army legacy officer Deirdre Metcalfe told the court earlier that the charity had received an initial payment of £120,000, but between March 1998 and August 13 1999 had received no correspondence from Cave.

The jury also found him guilty of stealing £3,896 from the estate of Cyril Hodge; £14,267 from the estate of Hilda Bentley; £6,250 from the estate of George Hall and £3,160 from the estate of Donald Dowson.

He was found not guilty of stealing £9,968 from the £1.7m estate of Lilian Mawer.

Cave was suspended from his post as coroner in August 2001.

He was granted bail at yesterday's hearing.