220 hours of community service for solicitor's fraud

A former Dublin based solicitor has been ordered to complete 220 hours of community service for defrauding two of his former clients.

Vincent O'Donoghue of Whitworth Road, Drumcondra illegally converted cheques worth almost IR £35,000 in the late 1990s.

They were to be used as deposits on properties in Dublin and Belfast.

The 62-year-old fled to Australia where he spent 11 years fighting extradition before he was brought back to Ireland last year.