A DISTRICT judge who was sacked for being drunk was yesterday banned from practising law for three years and ordered to pay more than £15,000 over serious financial irregularities.

A tribunal heard that David Messenger, 50, of Scalby Road, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, used clients' money taken from his law firm, Messengers, for his use.

The tribunal heard that, following an investigation into the firm's accounts between November 2003 and February last year, concerns were raised as to how the practice was being financed.

At one point, Messenger was acting on behalf of three parties in the same conveyancing case.

As a result of its inquiries, the Law Society intervened and the practice was closed in June last year.

Messenger, who was charged with four counts of breaching solicitors' accounts rules, one count of failing to avoid a conflict of interest and one count of failing to act in a client's best interest, said he had not kept on top of bookkeeping and that many of the accounts were incorrect.

Messenger blamed former partners, who had set up the accounts system, for the breaches.

He said all his subsequent problems stemmed from his inability to keep track of his accounts. He was ordered to pay costs of £15,054.

Messenger was a deputy district judge when he was convicted of being drunk and disorderly late at night in a kebab shop in September 2003