Solicitor who used €10k of client monies to pay personal tax bill is suspended for a year

A solicitor who admitted professional misconduct, including using €10,000 client monies towards paying his personal tax bill, has been suspended for a year after which he can resume practising under conditions to expire after seven years.

The president of the High Court, Mr Justice Peter Kelly refused a Law Society application to strike off Thomas D'Alton and said the alternative sanction fashioned by the court was a "proportionate" response to the solicitor's wrongdoing.