Coroner Alan Crickmore ordered to pay back stolen £1m

A former Gloucestershire coroner has been ordered to pay back almost £1m he stole from his clients, some of whom had died.

Alan Crickmore was jailed for eight years in 2013 after stealing more than £2m from clients at his Cheltenham law practice over a period of 12 years.

In a confiscation hearing at Southwark Crown Court, judge Anthony Leonard QC ordered him to pay pack £992,679.

The money will now be used to help compensate the families of his victims.

Payments will be made from his realisable assets, including properties, bank accounts and Crickmore's pension.

He was jailed in 2013 after he admitted 24 counts of fraud.

The court heard how he stole money from the accounts of clients and the estates of dead people.

He used it to fund a lavish lifestyle which included exotic cruises, expensive restaurants and fine wines.

The family of Kenneth Goodwin, who had £894,442 stolen from his estate, said the outcome was a "great relief".

"We've a few more hurdles to cross but it is a huge relief. Hopefully, in the next few months will will have achieved our aims and goals and be able to move on with our lives," his son Ian said.

Det Sgt David Fryatt, from Gloucestershire Police, said: "During the course of our investigation Mr Crickmore sold his matrimonial house, his practice in Cheltenham and his holiday home in Norfolk.

"The equity released from those sales went into bank accounts which were frozen and managed by the Crown Prosecution Service."

He added that two properties owned by Crickmore's sons, which he paid for using stolen funds, will be sold and the money used to pay compensation back to victims.