Two women caught forging will

Two women have been caught committing forgery in a bid to claim the multi-million pound estate of their partner.

Chris John, an estate agent, died suddenly at 47 without a Will. Shortly after his death it was revealed that the divorce from his wife Helen wasn't legally binding as no decree absolute had been lodged with the courts, meaning she still had a legal claim to his fortune.

Shortly after his death Gillian Clemo, Mr John's long-tern girlfriend claimed that she had found a Will which named Mr John's sisters as executors and herself as a key beneficiary. The Will stated she would be allowed to remain in the luxury Cardiff home they shared.

Clemo swore an affidavit that the Will was real and that she had witnessed it.

Helen John then committed forgery herself by creating an addition to the Will to protect her daughter's inheritance. However, she later realised that the signature on the 'Will' did not appear to be her late husband's and alerted the authorities.

Talking about the document, Mrs John told the court: "I was shown a copy. It was on A4 white paper with a couple of lines written on it. It immediately struck me that it didn't look like my husband's signature."

Experts decided that the document was a forgery after becoming suspicious that Mr John's daughter's name was spelled incorrectly.

Mrs John has been given a formal caution by police instead of being taken to court.Clemo denies using a forged will under the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act and the trial continues.