A NORTH Yorkshire coroner charged "grossly extortionate" fees when dealing with the estates of ten people from North Yorkshire and County Durham, a jury heard today.

Opening the prosecution against Jeremy David Cave, Andrew Wheeler alleged that the 53-year-old lawyer took up to four times what he should have from former clients' estates.

He said the ten theft charges faced by Cave, related to his practice as a solicitor based in Market Place, Thirsk, and not to his work as a coroner for the western district of North Yorkshire and Selby.

Speaking at Teesside Crown Court today, Mr Wheeler alleged that Cave stole £185,000 from the ten estates. A specialist in assessing how much solicitors should charge for their work, estimated that the maximum he should have charged for his work was £125,000.

"What, in fact, he charged on those ten estates was £312,000, over two-and-a-half times, 250 per cent of the maximum figure deemed to be reasonable," said Mr Wheeler.

The prosecution barrister said: "The defendant was only entitled to charge reasonable fees. The prosecution say he didn't and what he charged was so grossly extortionate and he knew perfectly well he wasn't entitled to that money."

Mr Wheeler said the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors, part of the Law Society, started investigating Cave with an unannounced visit on April 26, 2000, after receiving complaints.

On July 4, 2000, the Society shut down Cave's practice and transferred most of his files to a second Thirsk firm.

Police became involved and Cave was arrested in May 2001.

Cave, of The Grange, Balk, Thirsk, denies ten charges of theft.

The former clients include Hilda Jane Bentley, of Kirkbymoorside, who died in February 1996, from whose estate Cave is alleged to have stolen more than £14,000; Harry Manning, of Thirsk, who died in August 1997, from whose estate Cave is alleged to have stolen £38,925; Ethel Johnson, of Thirsk, who died in April 1990, and from whose estate Cave is alleged to have stolen £88,420: Donald Dowson, of Thirsk, who died in June 1998, from whose estate Cave is alleged to have stolen £3,160; and Cyril Hodge, of Thirsk, who died in March 1995 and from whose estate Cave is alleged to have stolen £3,896.

Mr Wheeler alleged that Cave lied to a Law Society investigator and pretended that Mrs Bentley's representatives knew of bills totalling £18,747 which he had charged to her estate.

The prosecution claim that they did not know of the bills and that the total fees were more than four times what he should have charged.

The trial is expected to last for the rest of this year.

Updated: 15:43 Thursday, November 21, 2002