Who? David Coombe, 60-year-old partner and criminal specialist at Dorset firm Mustoe Shorter.

Why is he in the news? Acting for George Ayling of Weymouth, whose photograph was wrongly splashed across the front page of the Sunday Mirror under the headline 'On the loose: £7m Lotto Rapist in the West Country'. The retired security worker was incorrectly identified as Iorworth Hoare, who was recently released after spending 30 years in prison for one rape, three attempted rapes and two indecent assaults. Hoare attracted widespread media attention last year when he won a £7 million lottery jackpot while on day release from prison. After realising the mistake, the Sunday Mirror halted its print run and recalled and pulped as many first editions as possible. However, about 75,000 are thought to have been sold, though none in Dorset. An executive from the paper visited Mr Ayling to explain what had happened and apologise, and the Sunday Mirror printed an apology on page four.


Background: After gaining A-levels in history, geography and economics, he began his five-year articles with a firm called Bennetts, qualifying in 1970. He stayed with Bennetts for a while, before going travelling for 18 months. On his return to England, he joined Thomas Coombs & Son in Dorchester. In 1978, he set up his own practice, Clark & Coombe, which has merged three times since then finally becoming Mustoe Shorter in 1999.


Route to the case: 'One of my former clients recommended me to Mr Ayling's wife after she asked them if they knew any solicitors.'


Thoughts on the case: 'Mr Ayling came to my office with the offending article and photographs, which someone from the Sunday Mirror had given to him. My immediate reaction was that it would have been hard to find a more obvious example of libel. By the time I saw Mr Ayling, the paper had effectively apologised to him. I wouldn't pretend to be a libel lawyer but I felt that I could take this case on, as I felt liability wasn't going to be an issue. As you can imagine, Mr Ayling was pretty angry about it. We are currently in negotiations with the Sunday Mirror and are seeking a full retraction; the paper did print an apology, but not in a prominent place.'


Dealing with the media: 'There has been quite a lot of interest from the media, both local and national including the Daily Telegraph and the Guardian, which has been a very different experience for me. I have not had a great many dealings with the media in my time. I can't fault them on their politeness but I will say that they are certainly very persistent.'