Decision Overturned After Discovery Of Second Version Of Document

The Court of Appeal has quashed the conviction of a woman found guilty in a case related to a forged will, after a second copy of the disputed document was located.

Gillian Clemo of Cardiff was fined and ordered to pay court costs in 2011 after she was found guilty of using a forged will to prevent her partner Chris John’s former wife from accessing a share of his estate.

However, the decision has now been overturned after another copy of the will was located in a storage unit in London, with evidence suggesting that suspicious indentations seen on the original were caused by Mr John signing one while it rested on top of the other.

Mrs Clemo had always denied using a false document following the death of Mr John, who passed away suddenly from a brain haemorrhage in 2008. The document stated that the majority of the estate of Mr John, a property tycoon, should be held in a trust for his daughter until she reaches 27.

Commenting on the case, Lord Justice Treacy said: “Evidence has now emerged which appears to us to add materially to the case advanced by the defence at trial. It does lead us to the firm conclusion that this conviction should be regarded as unsafe.”