Postie leaves £2m to local Samaritans
A FORMER postman has left a £2million legacy to The Samaritans.
The Somerset branch of the charity is “baffled but grateful” for the huge sum – the value of the entire estate of John Grant, from Dorchester, Dorset, who died in January.
According to executors of his will, he appointed Samaritans of Yeovil, Sherborne and District as the sole beneficiary when it was written back in 1995.
The money will be shared between the local branch and the central charity.
Branch director Sarah Coote said: “The will didn’t explain why John Grant chose to leave his estate to us. Nonetheless, we are so grateful. We will ensure it is used to help us increase and improve our services.”
“But never in a million years did I imagine it would be his parole officer. He made out that she was a frumpy woman in her 50s.
“I could barely breathe as I realised that he’d been living a total double life. I collapsed in a heap on the floor, sobbing.”
Rachael, of Newton Abbott, Devon, first met Scouser Paul at a New Year party in 2003.
She said: “It was love at first sight. He was a bit of a bad boy but we were inseparable from then on.”
The pair were delighted when daughters Scarlett, now 13, and LexiLilac, now 10, came along.
Rachael was pregnant with their son Rory, now four, when Paul was sent down to the shock of her family and friends.
She said: “It was really stressful and everyone was telling me to dump him but I loved him so much I couldn’t leave him.
“I know that dangerous driving is really bad but it’s not like he’d murdered anyone or even been violent.
“I promised him that I’d be waiting for him when he came out.”
So Rachael was thrilled when Paul was released just in time for the birth of their son in 2014.
Weeks later he began attending the Working Links project, a probation service initiative which helps offenders get back into work.
Ironically Rachael was delighted about that. She said: “I was pleased. I hoped that it would help him get back on the straight and narrow.”
But instead of cracking on with job hunting, Paul started disappearing for days on end.
Rachael said: “He’d always been a bit of a party boy and he told me he was going
He’d said she was frumpy and in her 50s. I felt sick as I realised she was much younger RACHAEL ON DISCOVERING EVIDENCE THAT REVEALED EXTENT OF THE AFFAIR
out with his mates to the casino.
“I didn’t understand how he could afford to gamble as he didn’t have any money but when I asked him he insisted that his friends were paying.
“Alarm bells really started to ring when he began to take more care over his appearance.
“He grew his hair, even though I’ve always loved him with a shaved head, and he spent hours in the bathroom before heading out of the door with a spring in his step.
“When I asked him about it he joked that he was having a midlife crisis.
“I tried to push my concerns to the back of my mind but I really started to panic when he told me he was too busy for sex.
“We had always had a very active sex life and I knew that he must be getting some elsewhere.” Rachael spent months digging for evidence of an affair, determined to get at the truth – but nothing could have prepared her for what she discovered.
She said: “I never dreamed that the other woman would be the parole officer.”
But then Rachael found a picture. “She was much younger than he’d made out,” she said. “I felt sick to my stomach. They’d been messaging for months.
“He’d told her that he loved her and that she was his world.
SCREAMING
“They also spoke in detail about their sex life, which broke me and made me feel so rejected.
“I ran into my garden screaming and called Paul. He was so cold. All he said was, ‘At least you know now’ and then hung up.”
Devastated Rachael tried for weeks to call both Paul and his new lover but they blocked her numbers. She said: “I spent most of the time curled up on the floor crying. At one point I thought I was having a heart attack, I was so anxious.
“I didn’t sleep for three weeks and I had to get medication from the doctor. The worst thing was when the kids blamed me for their dad leaving. They missed him so much and that broke my heart.”
After a few months Paul came crawling back to her and the children.
Rachael said: “He turned up on my doorstep, begging me to take him back. At first, I told him to get lost but he spent weeks pleading for forgiveness.
“He told me it had been the worst mistake of his life and it had made him realise how much he loved me. I was torn – plus the kids missed him so much.”
In April 2016, Rachael decided to give Paul another chance – to the horror of most of her friends.
But their reunion was short-lived after a friend called to tell Rachael she’d