The Solicitors Compensation Fund is set to recoup £400,000 after a confiscation order was made against a disgraced Lancashire solicitor last week, the first time it has recovered funds through such a hearing.

The repayment was part of a total confiscation order of £690,000 against Darwen-based Philip Thomas Pressler at Preston Crown Court.


The order was made after investigators from the Assets Recovery Agency and Lancashire Constabulary managed to locate funds 'gifted' by Pressler in a bid to conceal his wealth.


Judge Russell ruled that the confiscation order should be satisfied immediately or Pressler would have to serve three years in jail in default.


Pressler had already been jailed last August for five years after pleading guilty to 36 counts of theft, with a further 11 offences taken into consideration.


The offences took place between 1994 and 2001, mainly involving thefts from estates of deceased persons Mr Pressler administered as senior partner of Hindle Son and Cooper.


A Law Society spokesman said the fund - which compensates the victims of fraud by solicitors - traditionally obtains a freezing order, followed by an application to a civil court. He added: 'The recovery will help to minimise future demands by the fund on the profession.'