Over the last fortnight, one of the more innocent branches of society has received a savage wallop to its rear end, and the public at large is rushing to offer sympathy and support. Oh ye banks, what a low blow fate has delivered to the innocence of babes.

The heartless critters who preyed on these innocent banks were sprung from the legal profession. Messrs Byrne and Lynn . . .and right messers they were too . . . used trickery to extract up to 100m from 10 financial institutions. The banks, insulated from the real world for so long, were left high and dry.

We have, over the years, observed the lowest of the low steal from social services, shake down charities, even run off with collection boxes.

But never before in this country have men in suits done so much heartless robbery of vulnerable banks.

Misplaced trust is top of the queue for reasons to be cheerful. In nearly all cases, the two lads gave "undertakings". The undertaking allows the solicitor to close a property deal without producing the title deeds. Thus, the likely lads got their paws on the moola by offering as collateral their word, which naturally, was their bond.

This is in sharp contrast to the welcoming committee in a bank if you or I sallied forth in search of millions in loans. Providing an "undertaking" to repay the money promptly without any collateral would set the manager off into ripples of laughter.

Yet innocent bankers believed that once a solicitor gave an undertaking, the collateral was in the bag and profits rung up another notch. It's as if these poor crathers believe that every individual who qualifies as a solicitor immediately transmogrifies into a paragon of moral virtue. The notion is quaint and cuddly and about two hundred years out of date.

For sure, there are solicitors who are as honest as the day is long. Staying honest is no easy thing in that game these days with pots of money swirling around the place, proximity to clients who are raking in easy dosh, and competition from some fast buck merchants. But some stay honest, relatively at any rate.

And others don't.

The same rule of thumb applies everywhere. The quaint notion of trust in people in a particular line of work extends to hospital consultants. For decades now, the public have been told to accept that consultants work the 33 hours a week in public practice for which they are paid.

Professionals of their status couldn't be expected to clock in, so their commitment is taken on trust.

Some work far more than the specified number of hours.

Others take the proverbial and head off to rake in private work on public time. That's just the way of the world.

Unfortunately, the poor bankers aren't well versed in how much the country has changed over the last two hundred years. They seem to have believed that once a man had a good education, cut a proper dash in a suit, and brandished something with the word "law" on it, he was money in the bag.

Such innocence is understandable. The silly bankers don't understand basic business concepts like risk. After all, their core operation is to loan out money which is effectively guaranteed. The loot is under next or no risk. It's as easy as taking candy from a baby, or lobbing on extra charges to thousands of unsuspecting customers.

Meanwhile, down in the Four Courts, dozens of lawyers, togged out appropriately in the black capes favoured by highwaymen of old, are lining up to try and get the loot back from the errant pair. We can only hope that they achieve some success. There is nothing more pitiable than a right banker starving on the side of the road.

However, this column is hereby pinning its colours to the mast. Free the Undertaking Two. Thomas Byrne and Michael Lynn did nothing more than act on the entrepreneurial impulse which we are told is the engine of the economy.

Keep the head up, lads.

There's mileage in this yet.