Father must pay £1.5m to sons for killing their mother in divorce battle
IN a landmark court ruling yesterday a murderer was ordered to pay two of his sons £1.5 million for killing their mother.
Ben and Nicholas Workman argued their father Ian butchered their mother Susan to avoid paying her half his fortune in a bitter divorce.
At London’s Court of Appeal, they argued that if the successful car dealer won he would be “profiting” from his cold-blooded crime.
Three judges have backed Ben, 27, Nicholas, 23, and Susan’s sister, Carol Forrester – meaning Workman must hand over £1,503,579 plus £500,000 in legal costs.
Workman, 63, is serving life behind bars for stabbing his 55-year-old wife to death during a row at their home in Bolton in 2011.
Since losing a 2014 appeal against his conviction, he had refused to cooperate with the legal process or obey court orders.
It is claimed he has given most of his £3.3 million fortune to his eldest son Grant, 28, who is believed to be standing by him.
However, his other sons and Mrs Forrester – who sued on behalf of her dead sister’s estate – were determined to stop him keeping his wealth.
Their lawyers said Workman would have been ordered to pay his wife “some £1.5 million” had she not died before she could divorce him.
Stephen Killalea QC said Workman’s obstruction of the legal process had led to “horrendous delays” and caused “intense emotional strain” to Ben and Nicholas.
Yesterday Lord Justice McCombe said the trio’s claim was “novel” but in a “well-known rule of law” murderers must not profit from their crimes.
Workman stabbed his estranged wife through the heart with a kitchen knife as they rowed about their marital split.
During his murder trial at Preston Crown Court, the jury heard poignant extracts from Mrs Workman’s diary, with the last entry penned moments before the killing.
The log – titled “Sue’s Memories” – recorded how Workman stormed into the house. Her final, unfinished line read simply, “standing, staring at me acro...”