A LEGAL executive stands accused of stealing £102,000 from client's wills and trust funds over seven years.
Ian Spoor, 40, was responsible for the administration of wills and probate for dozens of clients at two North-East legal firms.
At Chester-le-Street Magistrates' Court yesterday, Spoor, from Regent Farm Road, Gosforth, Newcastle, pleaded guilty to one charge of stealing £35,000 from his employers, McKeags and Company solicitors. The theft at the firm, in Lansdowne Terrace, Gosforth, took place between 1989 and 1994 from a client's will.
Richard Wilson, prosecuting, said: "Effectively, the money was taken from the client's will and put into his personal account."
After leaving McKeags, Spoor joined Gordon Brown Associates, in Front Street, Chester-le-Street, in 1997, and faces six charges of stealing a total of £67,000 from clients' wills and trust funds over four years. He has not yet entered a plea to those charges.
The case was committed to Durham Crown Court, to be heard on September 25.
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