A former president of the Yorkshire Law Society was jailed for 12 months after admitting stealing thousands from his clients.

Solicitor Roger Hartley moved more than £67,000 from clients' accounts to his own in an effort to stave off bankruptcy, Leeds Crown Court was told.

Hartley, who was a senior partner at Soulby & Co., Yorkersgate, Malton, admitted 32 counts of theft between February and October 1998.

Judge Robert Adams gave Hartley, who suffers from severe ill-health, a 12-month concurrent sentence for each theft.

Judge Adams said: "It is a privilege to practise the law and a high level of service is demanded. Clients' money is sacrosanct and should not be taken.

"I have taken account of your ill-health and your early guilty plea; however, I think you did this with your eyes open. It is a serious matter and it is important that the public can trust solicitors."

Hartley, 58, of Lingholm Lane, Lebberston, near Filey, was struck off by the Law Society in November 1999.

Prosecutor Andrew Dallas said Hartley's lifestyle had been described for some years as "lavish".

"His partnership with another solicitor, Gordon Mellor, had been dissolved in May 1996 and the defendant owed him about £70,000," he told the court.

"He had also been divorced twice - his second divorce had been a factor in his financial difficulties.

"In 1998 the firm's bank refused to extend its overdraft facility from £25,000 to £30,000 - he was under increasing pressure from the bank to reduce this overdraft."

Mr Dallas said Veronica Piercy, who had dealt with the firm's accounts since 1958, was instructed by Hartley in February 1998 to transfer money from a client's account to the firm's.

"He did this on a number of occasions and each time Miss Piercy was assured in a written note from the defendant that "everything was in hand," said Mr Dallas.

"He was billing his clients for work done but then waiting a number of days before sending them confirmation that the clients were being billed.

"The bank was putting him under pressure because they suspected the firm was insolvent."

When auditors reviewed the firm's accounts they found a shortage in client accounts of £67,016.

Fraud squad investigators were called in and Hartley was subsequently arrested and charged.

Tom Bayliss, for Hartley, said he had been under increasing strain through ill-health and financial pressure.

"He has been diagnosed as suffering from hypertension, diabetes and Crohn's Disease - since 1998 his diabetes condition has worsened," added Mr Bayliss.

"He has also been suffering for many years from clinical depression.

"He was unable to work as much as he had been and the firm was not bringing enough money. He was not leading a lavish lifestyle but was merely under severe financial strain."

DC Ian Illingworth, of North Yorkshire police's fraud squad, who investigated Hartley for more than a year, said he was satisfied with the outcome of the case.

He said Hartley had tried to cover his tracks, but not very effectively.

Updated: 10:01 Tuesday, February 27, 2001