A former judge and her husband who forged a dead man's will in order to get their hands on two country cottages which they then converted into a £325,000 home were jailed for six months each earlier today.
Margaret and Alan Hampshire made it appear as though 'hoarder' Martin Blanche had left his house in the picturesque village of Rolleston, Nottinghamshire, to an elderly cousin of Mrs Hampshire's that on behalf she held power of attorney.
Mrs Hampshire, who had previously worked as a solicitor specialising in wills and probate, then transferred it - and an adjoining property that her cousin, Josephine Burroughs, and Mr Blanche had jointly owned - to her daughter, before she and her husband knocked through and developed the two homes into one large cottage.
They sold their house in Essex and moved to Rolleston after using more than £23,000 that Mr Hampshire took from Mrs Burroughs' bank account to pay for around half the £46,000 conversion costs. But the couple, whostill live in the property, were arrested after the 'sophisticated' scam was uncovered.
They initially denied the offences, but pleaded guilty to a string of charges including forgery, fraud and theft part-way through a trial at Nottingham Crown Court last month.
When former builder and company director Mr Hampshire, 67, and his 69-year-old wife returned for sentencing, judge Gregory Dickinson QC told them: 'It is a statement of the obvious that forging a will for whatever reason is very serious.
'This is one of those areas of everyday life that depends upon the integrity and good faith of the public.'
He said that Mrs Hampshire had 'used and abused' her experience and skills as a solicitor to carry out the crimes, adding: 'These offences took place at a time you held judicial office and were being paid by the public to carry out a judicial role, which seems to me to make your offending all the more shameful and astonishing.
'You abused your position and the trust placed in you by your beloved cousin. Your duty was to act honestly and conscientiously as the attorney of Mrs Burroughs, and a decent member of the public.
'The real mischief here is the abuse of trust and integrity upon which our system of probate and property ownership depends.
'Your age and terrible fall from grace cannot save you from an immediate sentence of custody.'
A confiscation will take place next year to determine if the pair will have to pay back any proceeds from their crimes.
The court had heard how Mr Blanche, who lived alone, died in 2007 at the age of 60. Prosecutor Martin Hurst said he was a 'simple man' who it was thought couldn't read or write - and it was widely considered by those who knew him that it was therefore unlikely he would have written a will.
Before the Hampshires entered their guilty pleas, Mr Hurst added: 'This case concerns what the prosecution would say was Margaret Hampshire's desire, willingly aided by her husband, to inherit two estates on death comprising of two properties, so they could develop a country cottage in Rolleston and have significant sums to live on.
The Hampshires claimed they had found a will written by Mr Blanche, who they had never even met, as they cleared out his cluttered home after his death.
He was a cousin of Mrs Burroughs, and, although she was also a cousin to Mrs Hampshire, the two (Mrs Hampshire and Mr Blanche) were not related because they were on opposite sides of the family, the court heard.
The document appeared to leave Mr Blanche's small home - named Middle Corner House, the centre property in a row of three terraced houses - to 75-year-old Mrs Burroughs, of nearby Southwell, Nottinghamshire.
She and Mr Blanche also part-owned the adjoining derelict End Corner House.
But it was a forgery - now 'conclusively proven' to have been written by Mr Hampshire, Mr Hurst said, and 'dictated' by his wife.
He added: 'His (Mr Blanche's) house had no internal plumbing. He didn't use the toilet outside. He used a bucket. It was a terrible state when they went in to clear it out. He was a hoarder.
'You will hear from some people who knew him and helped in the village. They would say they were 'extremely surprised' Martin even left a will or was in a position to write one.'
The court heard that Mrs Hampshire, who was a serving deputy district judge for employment tribunals at the time of the offences, then forged a typed letter, apparently from Mrs Burroughs, saying: 'I have thought about Martin and the cottages at Rolleston and as we discussed I definitely do not want anything to do with it.'
It added: 'I think it's fair for you to have it, and I am happy for Sarah (the Hampshire's daughter) to have them if that is what you want.'
The letter, dated on February 24, 2007, was apparently signed by Mrs Burroughs.
But Mrs Hampshire eventually admitted it had been written in 2009, not in
2007 - and a handwriting expert confirmed the signature at the bottom was not Mrs Burroughs'.
She also accepted that she dishonestly exceeded her position as attorney for Josephine Burroughs by transferring Middle Corner House and End Corner House to her daughter - and admitted that she created a forged document which she kept at home as a means to avoid inheritance tax had a need ever arisen.
Once they had transferred both houses to their daughter, the Hampshires knocked them through to create one extended house, which they named Wheatsheaf Cottage. Police have estimated the value of the property to be between £300,000 and £325,000.
Before they were sentenced, Mr Hurst said: 'The way in which this was achieved was wholly dishonest.
'There is obvious joint enterprise throughout. She has carried out the transfers, he has stolen the money. Between the two of them they have obtained the properties and done them up using Josephine's money. They were obtained through forgery and fraud for their mutual advantage.
'There was clearly a significant abuse of trust. The prosecution say it was sophisticated, and over a sustained period.'
Mr Hampshire admitted to stealing a total of £23,176 from Mrs Burroughs during 2012. She died in January 2014 before the police investigation began. Mr Hurst said the 'matters came to light' after a dispute began with the owners of the third house in the row of terraces about 'rights of way and that sort of thing'.
Timothy Greene, defending, said Mrs Hampshire had resigned as a judge when legal proceedings started.
He told the court that she would have eventually inherited the houses from her 'beloved cousin' Mrs Burroughs anyway, adding: 'This was the first example of her smoothing the passage, improperly proved, to enable her to achieve the end that would have been achieved in any event.
'There was no intention to cause any financial harm. She (Mrs Burroughs) was telling people she wanted Margaret to have the property. There was a general view that the properties were going to go to Margaret and Alan Hampshire.'
But he told judge Dickinson: 'I can't shy away from the fact her employment (as a judge) at the time and in the past is a factor which My Lord may take into account.
'She has lost her good character and fallen a long way, humbly.'
Peter Lownds, defending Mr Hampshire, said he had forged the will for 'reasons of expediency'.
He added: 'There was no will. Having a will meant the administration of the estate could be conducted in a speedier and more straightforward manner.
That's my understanding. It was her words, and his handwriting.'
Mrs Hampshire pleaded guilty to two counts of forgery and one count of fraud. Her husband admitted forgery, and two counts of theft. The offences took place between 2007 and 2012. Other charged were ordered to lie on file.
A spokesman for Nottinghamshire Police said: 'Their dishonesty unravelled after a complex police investigation undertaken by the fraud department, which included handwriting analysis by an expert, financial investigation and computer data analysis.'
