A PENARTH solicitor has been struck off after using £12,000 from his firm's client account.

Nigel Richardson, 54, of Park Road, even made a credit card payment of £1,500 out of the money, a solicitors' disciplinary tribunal heard last Thursday.

The hearing heard the financial pressure of having two sons in their final years at university and a daughter about to get married led the solicitor to use the money.

Tribunal chairman Alan Ground, sitting with Colin Chesterton and David Marlow, said that as they had found his conduct was dishonest, he had to be struck off.

Richardson worked at Howells in Newport Road, Cardiff. He joined the firm in 1996 following the dissolution of his former practice.

The matters came to light when Richardson was off work and a partner looking at a conveyancing file noticed some unusual withdrawals.

Richardson was asked to come in and explain, but when he was unable to do so, he was suspended immediately. There were seven withdrawals from the client account and a payment on a personal credit card with the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Mr David Barton, for the Law Society, said: "This wasn't a momentary lapse - it occurred over a period of time."

Describing the withdrawals as "synonymous with a lack of probity and synonymous with dishonesty", Mr Barton said there had been no evidence Richardson's judgement had been clouded.

Richardson said he would pay the money back. He had already repaid £3,500 within ten weeks of the sale of his house. In six of the withdrawals, he said clients had later agreed he was entitled to costs and he always planned to repay the money.

Richardson said he had been ill - there was a flu epidemic at the time - and he was under pressure with two sons at university and his daughter due to wed in April 2000.

David Morgan, for Richardson, said: "When he did these things, he didn't fully appreciate they were as wrong as they were. The basis he took it was he would be repaying it."

Richardson admitted improperly utilising clients' money and breaching accounts rules, but denied doing so dishonestly.