Millionaire murder trial: Woman 'trusted friend' when she signed forged will

A woman said she was tricked into signing a forged will in the name of a millionaire one month before he died.

Denise Neal, 41, witnessed the document in the name of Anthony Sootheran, who was found dead at his home in Oxfordshire in March 2014.

The fake will's creator and one of its beneficiaries, Lynda Rickard, 62, denies murdering him.

Ms Neal, who denies fraud, told Reading Crown Court she was "manipulated" by Mrs Rickard who was a "trusted friend".

Mrs Rickard admits forging wills in the names of both Mr Sootheran and his mother, Joy, as well as spending tens of thousands of pounds of their money, the jury has heard.

She murdered the reclusive and vulnerable millionaire by depriving him of food and medical care, prosecutors have claimed.

Her husband, Wayne Rickard, 66, who also denies murder, failed to intervene, the jury at Reading Crown Court has been told.

Giving evidence, Ms Neal, of Lower Tysoe, Warwickshire, said she signed the one-page document at Mrs Rickard's request without a second thought.

The equine yard manager said: "It was a trusted friend asking me to sign something... I wouldn't have questioned it."

Ms Neal was asked how Mr Sootheran could have signed the will when she knew in February 2014 that he was too ill to sign cheques, according to her police interviews.

She replied: "I wouldn't have known that... It is thick, I agree. One hundred per cent, I'm thick."

Ms Neal said she had not benefitted from the will although she received £3,000 from Mr Sootheran in February 2014 for helping to care for his mother for many years.

She said she knew what the payment was for because he had promised her some money 18 months previously.

The 59-year-old millionaire's body was found at High Havens Farm near South Newington, Oxfordshire.

The Rickards, from Banbury, were his live-in tenants at the time, the jury has heard.

As alternatives to the murder charge, Mrs Rickard denies gross negligence manslaughter while her husband denies causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable adult.

They both deny fraudulently using Ms Sootheran's money to buy a Mitsubishi Shogun car.

Three of Mrs Rickard's friends - Ms Neal, Shanda Robinson, 51, and Michael Dunkley, 49, both from Banbury - deny fraudulently signing wills. However, another friend, June Alsford, 78, from Aynho, Northamptonshire, has admitted the charge.

Mr Rickard denies perverting the course of justice by attempting to pass off a will as genuine while Ms Robinson denies conspiring to do the same.

The trial continues.

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