Law Firm Thief's Suicide Bid

A trusted legal executive, who tried to kill himself by slashing his throat and wrists in a hotel bathroom after stealing £645,000 from a top corporate solicitor's firm - blowing it all gambling online - was jailed for fifteen months yesterday.

Property investments administrator Alan Michael Clarke, 47, of Delamere Road, Ealing was employed by City firm MacFarlanes for twenty-four years and was in charge of their clients' commercial property portfolio.

He pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to four counts of theft by an employee relating to sums of £13,906; £6,000; £16,382 and £18,488 on various dates between March 1, 2002 and July 10, 2006.

Clarke also pleaded guilty to six further counts of fraud by abuse of position in relation to £37,846; £61,207; £204,848; £200,290; £66,757 and £19,475 on various dates between January 15, 2007 and February 10, this year.

During a nine-year scam he forged multiple invoices for non-existent work on the properties - often asbestos removal - and diverted clients payments straight to his credit card, which was linked to a Paddy Power account.

However, after being caught and suspended by the partners on February 10 the married father-of-two wandered the streets of West London looking for a hotel room where he could kill himself.

"He lost over one million pounds to the bookmakers and the gambling was a secret from his wife and the credit card he used was set up at his parents address so she would not know," said Mr. Hugh Forgan, defending.

"The money was to feed his addiction and increased year on year, peaking at the time of his arrest at two hundred thousand a year."

Clarke removed his mobile's sim card so he could not be contacted, bought a knife and booked a room above a pub, where his unconscious blood-soaked body was found the next morning in the bathroom, jammed shut with a chair.

He had deep lacerations to his neck, both wrists and abdominal wall and spent a week in two different hospitals.

"He had severe damage to his tendons, arteries and the nerves in his wrists," added Mr. Forgan. "He has made a good recovery and on the mental health side a remarkably good recovery."

Prosecutor Mr. Philip McGhee told the court: "The defendant was a non-qualified legal executive on a salary of fifty-five thousand pounds a year.

"One feature of his duties was overseeing the expenditure in relation to these properties and he was also the company secretary to many of these corporate clients.

"What the defendant did was create false invoices for non-existent works on the properties, which purported to come from legitimate companies.

"The monies found their way into an account controlled by the defendant and he reserved the process of such invoices to himself, preventing other employees processing them.

"Some of the invoices also purported to be from an non-existent firm of chartered accountants called CJ Clarke, which the defendant controlled."

A total of £645,202 was stolen by Clarke, who has repaid the firm £477,304, by re-mortgaging his share of the marital home for £150,000; selling his Renault for £15,000; giving-up his £172,000 pension and raising further money when his parents re-mortgaged their home for £125,000.

The remainder was made up with his unclaimed wages, shares and savings, leaving him broke and claiming Jobseekers Allowance while living with his mum and dad.

"It came to light following suspicions aroused by some invoices, which triggered an internal investigation," explained Mr. McGhee.

His wife attended court, but now shares the matrimonial home with the couple's daughters aged 16 and 17, who are studying A levels.

The Recorder of London Peter Beaumont, impressed by Clarke re-qualifying as an electrician told him: "Your dishonesty was prolonged, it was in breach of trust and obtained by you to gamble huge sums of money.

"You have sorted yourself out physically and mentally and equipped yourself for a future. You have lost everything and done your best to find it again."

MacFarlanes, of Cursitor Street, Chancery Lane reportedly achieved total revenues of £92.4m last year and has been described as forming part of an elite London-based group of firms called the 'Silver Circle.'