Lawyer Jacques du Preez has swapped his black court robes for orange prison gear for stealing from a paralysed and mentally challenged client, says a TimesLIVE report. The Western Cape High Court thwarted his bid for freedom after he was found guilty on theft and fraud charges in the Oudtshoorn Regional Court recently. Du Preez sued the provincial Education Department for an Oudtshoorn man who was badly injured falling off a step ladder at school in 1999 after his teacher told him to paint rugby poles.

The department paid R500 000 into the lawyer's trust account in 2011 as a contingency measure to enable his client's needy family to take care of him. But Du Preez stole the money, and deposited nearly R400 000 in his mortgage bond account, claiming that it was his fee.

He also duped a curator into believing that he had invested the money in an interest-bearing account and that he would pay the family R500 weekly from the interest. Handing down judgment, Judge Vincent Saldanha upheld the Oudtshoorn Regional Court findings. The report adds the Law Society is set to probe his conduct after his failed appeal. It has emerged that he has removed himself from the roll of practising attorneys.

Full TimesLIVE report