THE former coroner for Gloucestershire, who stole almost £2million for clients at his solicitor practice, has been struck off from his professional body.

Alan Crickmore, 57, of East Approach Drive in Cheltenham, was sentenced to eight years in prison last November after stealing from the accounts of clients and estates of dead people.

A Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has now ordered that Crickmore be struck from the roll of solicitors and pay £66,000 in costs.

Full details of the decision will be published in the next seven weeks, after which he will be given 21 days to appeal.

At his trial last year, it was heard that over a six year period he stole £1,985,097 and spent £398,800 on his credit card alone.

Crickmore splashed out on £35,527 on luxury holidays, which included exotic cruises around the Mediterranean, where he would often pay more on board the ship than he did to get on it.

He also bought his client’s grieving families presents from his extravagant holidays to “show off” his wealth and maintain a high-standing in society.

Police arrested Crickmore on January 13, 2011 with officers raiding his property in Cheltenham and holiday home in Norfolk as well as his office and car.

They uncovered a vat collection of files and a number of victims whose trust funds has been devastated by Crickmore’s obsessive stealing.

He was originally suspended from duty in 2010 when the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) began an investigation into allegations of dishonesty at his law firm.

The SRA previously revealed it has paid a total of £116,645 in compensation to nine claimants who were victims of Crickmore.