A Canterbury solicitor has been jailed for five years after pleading guilty to 14 fraud-related offences.

Derek Speed, a former probate solicitor at Kent firm EMD Law, was sentenced last week after admitting the counts of fraud at Maidstone Crown Court.

Using fake identification, Speed arranged for money and shares totalling an estimated £250,000 to be transferred into his accounts. He worked at the firm from June 2008 until his actions were discovered in November 2009, when EMD Law reported him to Kent police and the Solicitors Regulation Authority, which is now preparing tribunal proceedings against him.

EMD Law senior partner Liz Dumbleton said only one of the firm’s clients had been affected. Two other clients were instructed by Speed on a private basis, unbeknown to the firm. She said the money was not removed from the firm’s client account.