Tantrum as woman died before he got her £5m

MILLIONAIRES Kate and Gordon Willey moved into Barton Park in April 2011 after Mr Willey developed dementia.

The childless couple were targeted by David Barton, who manipulated Mrs Willey, then 75, who was on the verge of a nervous breakdown over her 80-year-old husband’s illness.

Using a combination of threatening solicitors’ letters and lies, Barton persuaded Mrs Willey to cut all ties with her friends and family. Relatives tried desperately to reach out to Mrs Willey – even contacting police and other agencies – but were unable to break the hold Barton had over her.

When she died of a heart attack in May 2013, Barton, who was on the verge of getting her to sign an agreement paying him over £5million in return for lifelong care, was furious. While nurses were attempting to resuscitate her, Barton threw a glass of water over Mrs Willey, saying: ‘I can’t believe she’s Kate and Gordon Willey done this to me.’ Mr Willey, who sold his highly successful electrical wholesale business in the 1980s, was later moved to another home and died in 2016, aged 85.

Nephew David Willey said his family were ‘completely devastated’ by what had happened. Their solicitor, Amanda Noyce, of Royds Withy King, said Barton ‘deliberately isolated them at the very time when they were most vulnerable’.