A litigation executive in the Leeds HQ of northern giant Walker Morris has managed to avoid prison, despite being found guilty of stealing £11,000 from the firm's coffers.

According to The Lawyer, Lynne Morley (not to be confused with the Allen & Overy senior partner of sainted memory) worked on personal injury claims for the firm until 2009 when she was discovered with her hand in the till. After the usual impressively slow grind of the wheels of justice, Morley was sentenced this Tuesday, but narrowly escaped imprisonment as her nine month sentence was suspended for a year.

In mitigation, Morley explained that she had taken the money in desperation after rashly allowing her partner to take control of her finances. He claimed to be a professional snowboarder with considerable overseas earnings when in fact he was unemployed - and he proceeded to empty her bank accounts, leaving her with £40,000 of debt.  What a charmer.

A professional snowboarder, Leeds-style

A spokesman for the firm confirmed that Morley had been an employee until her dismissal in 2009 and stated that no clients had suffered any financial loss as a result of her actions.