A SOLICITOR has been struck off for borrowing tens of thousands of pounds from the estates of deceased clients.

A Law Society disciplinary tribunal found Adrian Gerard Donkin, a solicitor for 30 years, acted dishonestly by misusing money from customers' accounts as loans for himself.

Donkin, whose three-and-a-quarter acre home in Boldon Lane, Sunderland, is up for sale for £950,000, was also criticised for taking a £25,000 personal loan from a grieving woman too upset to accept inheritance money after the death of her brother.

Donkin admitted all but one of nine allegations against him, including breaching solicitors' accounting rules, utilising clients' funds for his own needs, and acting in circumstances where his own interests conflicted with those of his clients.

The 46-year-old denied he had acted dishonestly by misappropriating clients' funds, but the tribunal panel disagreed and said he had "failed to act with integrity".

The tribunal found that Donkin borrowed £130,000 from the accounts of three clients, including £54,000 to pay a VAT bill.

An inspection by the Forensic Investigation Unit of the Law Society found a £62,646 shortfall in clients' funds in June 2003.

One case involved a woman who died in December 1991, and whose will ordered her estate to be split between her ten grandchildren when they reached 21.

But just two months before the second eldest grandchild turned 21, Donkin owed the trust fund £43,000 plus interest from unauthorised personal loans.

He said he had not told the grandchildren he had borrowed from their inheritance because he "didn't see the need to".

In defence, Donkin said he "was a hard-working solicitor of competence and ability", trusted by all who came into contact with him.

He had also fully repaid the loans, plus interest, as he had intended to, and put right other accounting failures.

However, the tribunal said it considered it "inconceivable that a solicitor of the respondent's experience could be unaware of the light in which his fellow solicitors and members of the public would regard his actions".

Donkin, who was not available for comment yesterday, practised at John Donkin and Co, which has offices in The Galleries, Washington, Wearside, and High Street West, Gateshead.