A SOLICITOR from near Solihull who plundered more than £400,000 from clients' accounts was jailed for four-anda-half years at Birmingham Crown Court last Thursday.
Michael Lee, 63, of Pund Field, Wootton Wawen, took the cash over two to three years while principal of Michael Lee & Co, of Coventry Road, Small Heath.
He admitted theft and forgery. Judge Alan Taylor told Lee: "This is a particularly tragic offence but professional people who steal other people's money, something which in the circumstances of this case it was very easy to do as you were the sole controller of the money, can only be dealt with by severe punishment."
The judge said that as well as Lee's dishonesty, the offences came about as a result of his foolishness and incompetence, exacerbated by an addiction to drink.
