Thomas McGoldrick ran law firms in Altrincham and Croydon

Keith Anderson, 45, of Croydon, London, turned to Thomas McGoldrick's law firm to win �1.8m in damages following the accident in 1996.

Mr McGoldrick, 59, of Mobberley, Cheshire, is alleged to have forged a letter saying the crash victim had gifted him half of the cash.

Mr McGoldrick denies all charges at Manchester Crown Court.

Mr Anderson, a father-of-three, was left paralysed from the chest down and quadriplegic, after the road accident in Croydon in November 1996.

The defendant's Altrincham and Croydon-based law firm, McGoldricks, handled the claim, winning the award in May 2001.

'Money laundering'

The court heard that Mr Anderson called the firm in 2004 to be told by another solicitor that his cash had gone.

Giving evidence, Mr Anderson said: "I was shocked because I knew I should have in excess of �1 million in the account.

"I did not know what to do."

Days later a detective came to Mr Anderson with the signed letter, allegedly forged by Mr McGoldrick, saying he wanted to give half his claim away.

But Mr Anderson told the court that giving his money away would have been "crazy" as he needed it for his future care.

Mr McGoldrick faces 53 counts of false accounting, two counts of obtaining pecuniary advantage by deception, one count of forgery and one count of money laundering between December 1999 and September 2004.

He claims the letter from Mr Anderson was not forged and any finance he obtained was on the strength of accounts submitted by his accountants.

Mr Anderson's losses have been repaid by a lawyers' compensation fund.

The trial continues.