Solicitor stole from disabled client

7:22pm Friday 22nd February 2008

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A solicitor living in a £750,000 house stole more than £1million from a disabled client from Croydon, a court was told.

Thomas McGoldrick, 59, of Faulkners Lane, Mobberley, Cheshire, lived a life of "extravagance" while taking the cash from client Keith Anderson.

Mr Anderson, 45, was awarded £1.8million following a crash in Croydon in November 1996 which left him paralysed from the chest down.

When he received damages in May 2001, McGoldrick drew up a forged letter allegedly from his client "gifting" him half the money.

The money was used by McGoldrick to fund his struggling business and his lifestyle, which included sending his children to private school, foreign holidays and luxury cars.

The solicitor had practices called McGoldricks Greater Manchester and Croydon.

Detective Constable Mike Field, of Greater Manchester Police's Economic Crime Section, said: "McGoldrick is a completely shameless individual. He purported to be a respectable and professional solicitor, but all the while was stealing from one his most vulnerable clients.

"The victim in this case put his trust in him and he abused that position of trust to the extreme.

"McGoldrick contrived an opportunity to take a substantial quantity of money from a man who was vulnerable in order to maintain his lifestyle.

"The money awarded to the victim was not intended to allow him to live a life of luxury, but was to cover the costs of expensive medical treatment and equipment that he required for day-to-day life after being paralysed.

"McGoldrick, by contrast, was motivated by greed. His actions were selfish and calculating. He was responsible for making a difficult time for the victim even worse."

McGoldrick, who denied the charges, was convicted of 59 counts of fraud at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court and will be sentenced at a later date.