A FORMER Otley solicitor has admitted plundering more than £700,000 from the estates of 19 dead clients.

John Richard Ingham, 50, pleaded guilty to 19 counts of theft at Leeds Crown Court on Tuesday.

Ingham, a partner in the former Otley law firm, Barratt Chamberlain, which had offices in Manor Square, Otley, and The Grove, Ilkley, was struck off at the Solicitors' Disciplinary Tribunal in London last month.

A list of charges dating between 1977 and 2003 was read out. The court also heard that Ingham stole amounts of cash from estates ranging from £5,559.64 to £218,444.13.

Ingham, who now lives in Wetherby, stole the money between 1977 and June 2003 with many of the thefts occurring over a period of several years.

David Dixon, prosecuting, told the court that Ingham stole a net total of £703,000, but he added that a total of £902,000 had been repaid.

In court, Ingham spoke only to confirm his name and to enter guilty pleas to each of the 19 charges as they were read out in the 20 minute hearing.

Sentencing was adjourned until later this month for reports to be prepared.

At last month's Solicitor's Disciplinary Tribunal in London, when Ingham was struck off, the hearing was told it was one of the worst cases of dishonesty to come before the tribunal in recent years.

The tribunal chairman Roger Woolfe said it was an appalling case and that there was no hesitation in Ingham being struck off. Ingham, who did not attend the hearing, was ordered to pay costs of £8,000.