A pensioner has been ordered to pay £10,000 bail money after a solicitor accused of deception vanished before a court case.

It is believed he may have gone sailing rather than appear at Lewes Crown Court. Retired Felicity Wells, 66, of Parkhurst Road, Bexhill, put up the money far David Rawlings on condition he appeared to face a deception charge.

He was due to appear on March 24 accused of procuring £75,000 from Katherine Wallace, a client of his firm Bexhill firm. But the 54-year-old solicitor, who had moved to Guernsey, failed to show up.

Mrs Wells told the court she did not know Rawlings had disappeared until she received a package days before the hearing containing a small model boat, which she believed implied the solicitor and her best friend of 25 years had gone off sailing.

Guy Russell, defending, said: "She stood surety for the ephemeral Rawlings in May last year when the defendant was living in Guernsey. She had faith in him turning up. She had known him for 20 years and he was the partner of her best friend of 25 years. He had acted as a solicitor for her.

Mr Russell said the £10,000 was intended as a deposit for her son's flat. Judge Richard Brown ordered Mrs Wells to pay the sum within 28 days and added: "Of course this is the purpose of having a surety, to ensure the presence of the defendant."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.