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 handling the administration of wills and probate for dozens of clients at two North-East legal firms.

But at Chester-le-Street Magistrates Court today, 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, on Lansdowne Terrace, Gosforth, took place between 1989 and 1994 from a client's will.

Richard Wilson, prosecuting at Chester-le-Street Magistrates Court said: "Effectively the money was taken from the client's will and put into his personal account."

After leaving McKeags, Spoor took up a post at Gordon Brown Associates on Front Street, Chester-le-Street in 1997 and is facing six charges of stealing a total of £67,000 from client's wills and trust funds at the firm over four years.

He has not yet entered a plea to those charges.

Spoor's case was committed to Durham Crown Court, to be heard on September 25.