Hero’s medals in family row fetch £90,000
A FALKLANDS hero’s medals fetched £ 90,000 last night at an auction arranged by his wife – despite the soldier’s brother interrupting in protest.
Steve Bingley, 48, tearfully told the room: ‘They should be passed to his daughter.’
Paratrooper Gary Bingley’s widow Jay Hyrons, 60, wore dark glasses and sobbed at the Spink and Son auction house in Bloomsbury, London, as the hammer fell.
Lance Corporal Bingley was posthumously awarded the Military Medal for his bravery in storming an Argentine machine gunner in 1982, aged 24. When his widow, formerly Jayne, was handed the honour by the Queen, she showed it to their fouryearold daughter Zoe and said: ‘ When she’s older, I’ll be able to tell her all about her hero daddy and give her his medals.’
The new owner was an anonymous bidder online, who in theory would have been able to hear the brother via a live video.
Mr Bingley said: ‘Sir, ladies and gentlemen, my name is Steve Bingley. These are my brother’s medals. Just out of respect for my brother, I can’t put a price on these medals … a symbol to my family and what he did … these medals should be passed on to his daughter, their daughter, Zoe.’
Now living in Australia, Zoe McKay, 39, said earlier this week she was ‘deeply saddened’ by her mother’s decision to sell them to fund her battle with ill health.
Last night Miss Hyrons said: ‘There are always two sides … I have chosen to remain silent up until now to maintain my dignity and protect Zoe’s.’ Asked about the brother’s plea, she said: ‘I have been dealing with this for 36 years.’
Auctioneer David Erskine-Hill said it was only the second time he had seen such an intervention in 40 years.