A LAWYER from Blackburn who stole £25,000 by faking medical reports for a non-existent ‘expert’ mental health company has been struck off.

Victoria Wadsworth, 50, formerly head of the mental health department at Roebucks Solicitors, based in Richmond Terrace, is serving a two-year jail sentence for fraud after cheating the 107-year-old firm over a five-year period.

Without the knowledge of fellow partners, between July 2007 and May 2012, she siphoned off Legal Commission Service (LSC) funds to a firm she had set up, called Healthy Minds, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) heard.

Wadsworth claimed LSC payments for supposed medical reports from Healthy Minds, as part of ongoing casework, a misconduct hearing was told.

But Healthy Minds was invented by the solicitor and she pocketed payouts, forwarded by the firm.

David Barton, for the Solicitors Regulation Authority, said the fraud was only discovered during a routine audit of one of Wadsworth’s files, after concerns were expressed by partners over her administration capabilities.

Wadsworth admitted a charge of fraud by false representation at Manchester Crown Court last July. She was jailed for three years, later reduced to two years on appeal.

The hearing was told Roebucks had repaid £182,000 to the LSC, despite Wadsworth only admitting to £25,000 during the criminal proceedings.

The hearing was told Wadsworth, who was still imprisoned and could not attend the SDT panel, was previously been represented by Forbes Solicitors. But Forbes had been forced to withdraw from the case.

Mr Barton said he had been shown a statement, by Forbes, claiming the amount repaid by Roebucks was £134,000.

Roebucks’ reputation had been damaged and it had incurred other expenditure, relating to Wadsworth’s deception, he added.

She qualified as a solicitor in 2004 after a career in nursing and was made a partner in 2007. But she was sacked for gross misconduct by Roebucks in May 2012.

Ordering her to be struck off and pay £21,864 costs, tribunal chairman Mr T Cullen said: “Her misconduct had been deliberate, calculated and repeated.”