Solicitor guilty of fraud jailed
A solicitor who stole more than £1m from a disabled client has been jailed for 10 years at Manchester Crown Court. Thomas McGoldrick, 59, of Faulkners Lane, Mobberley, Cheshire, lived a life of "extravagance" while taking the money from client Keith Anderson.
Mr Anderson, 45, from Croydon, had been awarded £1.8m after he was severely injured in a road crash. Belfast-born McGoldrick was convicted of 59 counts of fraud in February and was sentenced on Monday.
He was £1.4m in debt when his firm, who had practices called McGoldricks in Altrincham, Greater Manchester and Croydon, took on Mr Anderson's case. The Jamaican van driver was left paralysed from the chest down and quadriplegic after the accident in November 1996.
McGoldrick's firm won the claim for damages - and McGoldrick went on to take about £1.2m of the cash. He forged a letter allegedly from his client "gifting" him half the money. McGoldrick went on to spend £15,000 on a new kitchen and £1,600 on a children's garden climbing frame.
He also paid to send his children to private school, took foreign holidays, drove luxury cars and lived in a large house in Cheshire.
During his trial, Manchester Crown Court heard that Mr Anderson called the firm in 2004 to be told by another solicitor that his cash had gone. Mr Anderson was awarded £1.8m following the crash
Speaking after his sentencing, a Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) spokesman said: "McGoldrick abused his position as a solicitor to embezzle funds belonging to the clients of his firm and using the funds for his own gain. The bulk of the award was not paid to the victim and McGoldrick did not account for the total funds received on behalf of his client. Instead he drew funds from the client account and utilised them for his own purpose The CPS is pleased that McGoldrick has finally been punished for his actions."
Det Con Michael Field said police were happy with the sentence. "It sends out the right message to anybody else, any other wrongdoers thinking of taking advantage of people in Keith's position," he said. "It's a good sentence and I'm very pleased with it and so is Keith."