A man has been jailed after he faked a relative’s will to prevent a charity benefitting from a multi-million pound legacy. Paul Coppola, 65, admitted forging the signature of Desiderio Coppola just days before his death. The deceased left his £7m estate to be divided between his family and wished for the balance to be left to
A novice landlord said she fought a legal battle to regain possession of her rental property but was horrified to find it trashed and covered in faeces. Angela Leeming, 62, says she spent more than £10,000 in court costs, damage repairs and lost rent. Leeming said her tenant left dog and cat faeces on carpets
A property tycoon who claimed his estranged wife was not entitled to a share of his fortune because their marriage certificate was fake has settled a High Court dispute. Asif Aziz said last month that he and his estranged wife Tagilde Aziz were both born abroad and obtained a “fake” marriage certificate so a child they
A landlord was found to be renting a “coffin-like” cupboard to a man in London as a room. Inspectors for Newham Council discovered the one-metre by two-metre understairs space in an overcrowded house in Beckton. According to the council, the four-bedroom house had already been fitted with 11 “sleeping spaces,” with bunk beds crammed into single rooms. Officers also discovered serious fire
A senior High Court judge has suggested that couples could be committing accidental bigamy after he cancelled 21 divorces organised by a disgraced former barrister. Sir James Munby, the president of the High Court’s family division, said Khalik Bhatoo used false addresses on the divorce petitions and had forged signatures and filled out forms on
Couples will be able to apply for divorce online as part of a £1 billion reform of the justice system. The scheme is being tested at three sites in the UK and is due to be extended to other centres in the coming months, the Ministry of Justice said. It is part of a £1bn
A benefits cheat who had over £50,000 in his bank account after receiving money from an inheritance has been sentenced after illegally claiming more than £30,000. Constantino Fenu, 63, was sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court after pleading guilty to seven counts of benefit fraud. The court heard Fenu received benefits he was not entitled to including housing
The Court of Appeal allowed a husband’s appeal against an order made by a Family Division judge that he should pay his wife a lump sum even though a Russian court had previously made a consent order following Russian divorce proceedings in which they both had legal representation. Following an evaluation of all the relevant
A retired nurse is accused of creating false tenancy agreements and claimed she rented her £400,000 home in order to claim £66,000 in benefits that she wasn’t entitled to. Margaret Ayensu, 71, lied over a period of ten years and fraudulently claimed pensions credit and housing benefit. In addition, Ayensu also created several false letters