An Irish solicitor has entered RollOnFriday's Dodgy Solicitor Top Trumps after being sentenced to four years in jail for stealing over €750,000 from clients.

David O'Shea was previously a partner at O'Donovan Solicitors in Dublin. However the firm shut down in 2009 with the loss of five jobs after O'Shea was caught with his hand in the till, having stolen an impressive €779,000 between 2002 and 2008. For example, O'Shea stole from the estate of one John Price by taking cheques made out to Price's beneficiaries, and using them for his own ends. He spent €79,000 from the Price estate on property and also spent stolen money on cheap cars, credit card debt and - more esoterically - to pay for a horse trainer.

O'Shea pleaded guilty and was sentenced last week to four years inside, of which the final six months will be suspended. In a bizarre courtroom statement, O'Shea claimed via his lawyer that he was being threatened by Giovanni "Devil's Advocate" di Stefano. Quite why that meant he had to steal money for a horse trainer is not yet clear.


 
 
 

O'Shea is joined above by ex-Mishcon partner and convicted fraudster Kevin Steele, from the Dodgy Solicitor Top Trumps  archive. O'Shea flies into fifth spot, level with last week's Kenneth Hunt, knocking City favourite Christopher Grierson (who stole £1.3 million) down to seventh place.

Name
Jurisdiction
Sentence
 Matthew Kluger, ex Skadden
 USA  12 years
 Martin Weisberg, ex Bakers
 USA  expected 8 years
 Kevin Steele, ex Mishcon
 England  5 1/2 years
 Louise Martini, ex Williamson & Soden
 England  5 years
 David O'Shea, ex O'Donovan
 Ireland  4 years
 Kenneth Hunt, ex Hunt Kidd
 England  4 years
 Christopher Grierson, ex Lovells
 England  3 years
 Barbara Gayton, ex Hunt Kidd
 England  2 years
 Emma Rowsell, ex CC
 England  18 months
 Richard Simkin, ex Fulbright
 England  16 months
 Judie Groom, ex CC
 England  15 months
 Partner who ran a red light, Hogan Lovells
 Dubai  20 days
 Pissed trainee, Freshfields
 Dubai  2 days
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