The disgraced former coroner for Carmarthenshire has been jailed for five years after stealing £1million from a dead man's estate.

John Owen, 79, from Llandeilo, stole the money from the estate of farmer John Williams in a bid to "prop up" his struggling law firm after being made executor of the dead man’s will.

Cardiff Crown Court heard Owen’s had been a "pillar of the community" but an "extravagant lifestyle" despite his business struggling.

His reputation was ruined when his crimes were finally revealed.

At an earlier hearing, Owen admitted 17 counts of theft and false accounting.

The court heard Mr Williams, from Llangadog, died a bachelor in 1997 with no immediate family and his farm was sold and when two of his three executors passed away, solicitor Owen became the sole trustee of the estate.

Janet McDonald, prosecuting, said Owen dishonestly claimed the money, which had been intended for charity, between 2003 and 2011 by billing for work he did not do.

There was no record of what became of the missing £1million, but Owen claimed his law firm had got into financial difficulty and he used the money to keep it afloat.

The fraud was only revealed when employees Pauline Mainwaring, became concerned by the “alarming rate” at which money was disappearing from the Williams' account and contacted the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Peter Rouch QC, defending, said Owen had been a solicitor for 43 years and then county coroner and his work had been carried out "impeccably and in an exemplary manner".

But his company began to struggle because the system of billing clients was haphazard, he regularly undercharged for work and was reluctant to let staff go.

He said Owen was "deeply ashamed" of his actions.

Judge Stephen Hopkins QC said Owen had used his position from the estate.

"Your fall from grace has been spectacular," he said.

"You have lost your professional standing and your good name. You owed a duty of utmost good faith to your client and you were in breach of trust, damaging not only your victim but also your colleagues and profession at large."

An application to recover £125,868.36 of the stolen money was made for under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

The court heard Owen and his wife had sold their home to repay some of the money.