In brief: Shipping firm clerk sails off with £40,000

A former book-keeper at shipping law practice Zaiwalla & Co stole £40,000 from the firm, forged the senior partner's signature to open a bank account, and gave a former employee £1,800 without permission, a tribunal heard. The Solicitors' Disciplinary Tribunal has banned Brian Brown from being employed in the profession without Law Society consent. Brown, who is midway through a four-year jail sentence for theft and deception, stole the money between 1990 and 1994. He was ordered to pay £528 costs.