A former British Legion secretary has been accused of forging the £5million will of a 90-year-old ex-air hostess.
Mark Pidsley, 70, allegedly became a ‘sudden presence’ in the twilight of Joan Sutcliffe’s life.
Despite the elderly widow’s family never meeting him, Mr Pidsley and his son David were named as executors and trustees in a will made in 2019, the year before she died.
It overwrote a 2011 will that had left Mrs Sutcliffe’s impressive home in Putney, south-west London, a detached Victorian villa in Lymington, Hampshire, and a flat in Provence to her stepdaughter Bridget Spencer, 68, and her children Harry, Rebecca and Victoria. Under the new document, not a penny goes to her stepdaughter, and there is just £2,000 for each child.
And according to a ‘letter of wishes’ allegedly attached to the will – yet not disclosed until two years after the death – the bulk of the multi-million-pound estate now goes to a trust controlled by the Pidsleys.
The late Joan Sutcliffe, who is pictured with her late husband John, was listed as a ‘vulnerable adult’ after a fall which left her with a broken hip
A note supposedly from Mrs Sutcliffe says the funds can be spent by the Pidsleys ‘at your sole discretion for your benefit or given to your family as you see fit’.
A court battle has begun after the two witnesses to the new will said they knew nothing of it. The pair – Mr Pidsley’s acquaintance Simon Parker and Mr Parker’s friend Marie Pollack – say they were asked only to sign a power of attorney form.
They claim Mr Pidsley badgered them to sign a flowery letter he had written laying out ‘a fictitious set of events’ about witnessing the will.
Mrs Spencer’s barrister Fay Collinson told London’s High Court: ‘The 2019 will is fraudulent because Joan did not sign the will or any other document in the presence of Mr Parker and Ms Pollack.’
In trying to admit the 2019 will to probate, ‘Mark Pidsley at least has committed a fraud’ said the barrister, and as a result the 2011 document benefiting Mrs Spencer is Mrs Sutcliffe’s ‘last true will’.
Mark Pidsley (pictured), 70, allegedly became a ‘sudden presence’ in the twilight of Joan Sutcliffe’s life
Former photographer Mr Pidsley, who last year hosted the Lymington Society’s annual garden party with wife Lesley Ann, is demanding the 2019 will is acted on.
He and his son deny wrongdoing, saying Mrs Sutcliffe produced the 2019 will unaided. They insist the witnesses have simply ‘forgotten’ witnessing its execution over a ‘slap-up tea’ in the gardens of Mr Parker’s Grade II listed home.
Mrs Sutcliffe worked as an air hostess in the glory days of flight from the 1950s, crewing propeller-aided BAOC aircraft to America, Africa and India.
After the death of her BP executive husband John in 2007, Mrs Sutcliffe lived between her three homes, painting and playing her grand pianos – until a fall ten years later left her with a broken hip.
In early 2018 her GP listed her as a ‘vulnerable adult’, and she began spending more time in Lymington.
Mrs Sutcliffe lived between her three homes, painting and playing her grand pianos, but began spending more time in her Lymington home (pictured) after a fall
According to her stepdaughter’s barrister Ms Collinson: ‘In around 2018, Joan began to experience forgetfulness. In late 2018, Mrs Spencer became concerned about the sudden presence of Mark Pidsley in Joan’s daily life.
‘Mrs Spencer learned from Joan that, whilst visiting Lymington, she experienced car trouble. Mark Pidsley, who lived nearby but with whom Joan has no previous substantive relationship or acquaintance, offered to drive Joan from Lymington to Putney.
‘Mark Pidsley, whom Joan had never mentioned to Mrs Spencer, friends or neighbours before, then proceeded to stay at Joan’s home in Putney for several days – and arranged repair of her car, took her to medical appointments and began considering her confidential paperwork.’
Privately educated Mr Pidsley, who was a Royal British Legion secretary, claims he knew Mrs Sutcliffe for more than 40 years.
Acting for him, Brie Stevens-Hoare KC accused Mrs Spencer of making ‘speculative, spurious’ allegations. She added that the ‘allegation of forgery and fraud’ against him would be refuted.
The case has been adjourned.