A former solicitor who took almost £2m from clients' accounts while trying to chase lottery winnings he believed he had won has been ordered to pay back more than £100,000.

Hugh Lansdell, a former senior partner at Norfolk firm Hansells, took a total of £1,963,659.44 between 2015 and 2017 after being duped into believing he had won a Spanish lottery and needed the money to secure his jackpot.

The 75 -year-old devout Christian, who wanted to give money to his local church so it could be renovated, believed "God had answered his prayers".

Mr Lansdell took the money after receiving letters which told him about lottery wins in excess of £10m but that he needed to pay non-resident taxes of more than £200,000 to secure the cash.

Hugh LansdellHugh Lansdell (Image: Newsquest) Lansdell, formerly of The Close, Norwich but now of Hollesley Bay prison in Suffolk, was jailed for four years in September last year after he previously admitted fraud by abuse of position.

He was back at Norwich Crown Court on Wednesday for a Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearing.

Norwich Crown CourtNorwich Crown Court (Image: Peter Walsh, Newsquest) Proceeds of crime refers to assets, funds and property gained through criminal activity.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has the power to confiscate these under the Act.

Brent Martin, prosecuting, said Lansdell's available assets included £126,943.69 made up of six pension funds as well as stocks and shares.

He said any order made by the court was to be made to Aviva who "stood behind the firm" Lansdell once worked for.

Judge Alice Robinson made the order, giving Lansdell three months to pay.

Lansdell will have to serve 18 months in prison in default if the figure is not paid.

Isobel Ascherson, representing Lansdell, who also has £12,000 in a Co-Op bank account, said the order "allowed him to keep something rather than lose everything".

In a bid to get claim the jackpot he thought he had won, Lansdell initially made payments from his own and his wife's account to the point the funds were "exhausted".

But after that and "still believing he was entitled to winnings" he "withdrew funds out of client's accounts without their consent".

Jailing him last year, Recorder John Hardy said Lansdell had "suffered a spectacular fall from grace" and was now "broken".