THE uncle of a man whose will was mishandled by a now struck-off solicitor today spoke of how he felt his trust had been broken.

When Fred Stott's nephew John Bailey died Mr Stott was named as the executor of the will and he entrusted all the details to solicitor David Pilling.

But nearly ten years after Mr Bailey committed suicide, Mr Stott received a letter from the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors saying they were investigating the handling of his nephew's will.

Last week at a Solicitors' Disciplinary Tribunal, chairman Anthony Gibson found all six charges of transferring more than £57,000 from dead clients' accounts proved and Mr Pilling was struck off.

Mr Stott a retired window cleaner, of Rose Street, Bacup, and Mr Bailey, who was 34 when he died, were next-door neighbours.

He said: "We were a very close family. We used to look after one another.

"Both his mother and father had died and he used to keep things very much to himself. He died in 1988, he killed himself in his car up Deerplay.

"It was a great shock when it happened. John was a proper man's man, when it happened you could have knocked me down with a feather." Mr Bailey left £250,000 most of which was to the RSPCA with a smaller amount to the Scottish National Trust.

Mr Stott said: " I was dumb founded that he left so much money but I had every confidence in Mr Pilling. He had made out my will.

"He gave me a list of all the companies where my nephew had money and I asked him for a bill, but he said that the list would do for a bill. At the back of my mind I wasn't satisfied."

Mr Stott said Mr Pilling's father founded the family firm JV Pilling which was based at Irwell Terrace, Bacup.

The tribunal heard how ten transactions had been made from the account of Mr Bailey totalling £44,250. In addition a further two transfers were taken from the accounts of William Smith, also deceased, totalling £12,925. There were no bills in client files relating to the amounts.

Mr Pilling, 41, of Wilfred Street, Manchester, told the tribunal: "I have never been dishonest in my life. I always intended to send out bills to both clients."

JV Pilling has now been bought out by Rossendale solicitors Woodcock and Sons, a family firm established in 1791.

Senior partner Andrew Rigby said: "Mr Pilling was suspended by the Law Society in April 1998 and has not worked for the firm from that date.

"When the Law Society intervened Mr Pilling's partner Bryan Walsh continued to run the business as a sole practitioner and he has subsequently been taken on as an associate solicitor after we took over JV Pilling in February 1 2000.

"JV Pilling had a Rawtenstall office which was sold before we took over."

Mr Rigby said he understood Mr Pilling had repaid the money.