Crooked lawyer stole £90,000 from Midland pensioners to fund boob job and chihuahua

Nov 29 2009 by Jeanette Oldham, Sunday Mercury

Her job then brought her into contact with Doris Carrier, who now lives at a Wolverhampton nursing home.

The scheming solicitor stole the frail pensioner’s savings after doctoring an Enduring Power of Attorney document which gave her power over her bank accounts.

Over a four month period from April to August last year, Hyland illegally transferred £93,236 from Mrs Carrier’s bank accounts into her own.

A source close to the case said: “Mrs Carrier was devastated by what happened, extremely distressed.

‘‘It’s fair to say that had she not had the support of some extremely kind friends, we dread to think what might have happened.

“She is a very elderly lady and she, like others for whom Hyland carried out legal work, came to trust her completely.

‘‘They have all been left very shocked by her disgusting abuse of trust.

“She is a horrible woman who has not shown any remorse for what she did.

‘‘All of the clients who had money taken were left very shocked. The cheques they had written and given her were meant for the solicitors, Dunham Brindley and Linn.

“But Hyland asked the clients to leave the cheques blank so that she could write her own name in and pay them into her bank account instead.

‘‘She was taking the clients’ money but because she had carried out work for them, it was Hyland’s firm that lost out financially - execpt for in the case of Mrs Carrier.”

A police investigation into Hyland’s spending found she blew some of the stolen cash on private school fees for her own children.

She also frittered £3,000 of it on a breast reduction operation and lavished a whopping £6,000 the designer Chihuahua ‘handbag’ dog.

The crooked solicitor, who worked under her maiden name Veronica Wilkinson, also paid £37,000 in cash for a gleaming Audi Avant A3 and treated herself to a selection of designer jewellery.

She was arrested by Staffordshire Police and charged in June at Rugeley police station with 16 counts of theft and fraud by false representation.

After losing her job, Hyland is now understood to be claiming disability living allowance and is using a wheelchair. Her husband has attended all of her court hearings with her and is said to be fully supportive of her.

When approached by a Sunday Mercury reporter at her home on Friday, Hyland angrily refused to comment.

Her husband stormed: “Do you get your kicks from lying to disabled women? If you show your face at my house again I’ll break your ******* neck.”

The couple’s pet dog, believed to be the £6,000 pedigree pooch, had been yapping around our reporter’s ankles during the confrontation.

Hyland, who is thought to have lived for a time in Codsall Road, Wolverhampton, is expected to be hauled before a Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal at the end of the criminal case.

It has the power to ban her from legal practice for life.

A spokesman for the Solicitors Regulatory Authority said of Hyland: “She will inevitably face disciplinary proceedings.”

Hyland is thought to have worked for Dunham Brindley and Linn for several years. The firm no longer exists but was bought earlier this year by another company, which declined to comment.

A spokeswoman for Staffordshire Police confirmed that Hyland is due to be sentenced at Stafford Crown Court on Friday.