Legal practitioners have been warned not to turn a blind eye to criminality after a solicitor with links to a drug dealer was jailed for 16 months.

James Thorburn-Muirhead was sentenced last month to 16 months in prison after abusing his professional posititon.

The sole proprietor of Thorburn & Co in Henley-on-Thames, Surrey, pleaded guilty to four counts of theft and false accounting, and one count of failing to disclose.

Thorburn-Muirhead was the subject of an investigation by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) after suspicions about his relationship with a convicted drug trafficker.

A search of his offices and home address in July 2007 resulted in the seizure of several hundred conveyancing files along with accounting records and computers.

The evidence linked Thorburn-Muirhead with the dealer and also pointed to misappropriation of money from clients’ accounts.

At Kingston Crown Court, the solicitor’s benefit from criminal conduct was agreed at just over £196,000 and a confiscation order was made for that amount, payable within nine months.

A two-year default sentence will apply if he fails to meet that deadline, and he will still be liable to pay the sum. He was also ordered to pay a Compensation Order of £12,666.67 and will pay £25,000 towards prosecution costs.

Regional head of investigation for SOCA, Chris Farrimond, said: ‘Muirhead was a professional in a position of trust which he abused for personal benefit. He was derelict in his legal obligations to his clients, regulators and to law enforcement.

‘This case should be a deterrent to anyone in the regulated sector who may be tempted to work with criminals or turn a blind eye to criminality; the short-term gains seem attractive, but the long-term effects for your career and profession are anything but.’

Thorburn & Co was officially closed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority in July 2009.