In the clear, fashion boss held over death of baseball bat intruder
A MILLIONAIRE former fashion boss will not face charges over the death of an intruder who was fatally injured at his luxury farmhouse, police said yesterday.
Richard Glanville, 60, the former chief financial officer for High Street stores including Oasis and Warehouse, is believed to have defended himself after he was confronted by a neighbour wielding a baseball bat.
Ricci Gallagher, 46, suffered head injuries and was airlifted to hospital from the £2 million property in Little Burstead, near Billericay in Essex, but died a week later.
His home – a wooden shack set in woodland half a mile from Mr Glanville’s house – had been destroyed in a fire minutes before the confrontation.
Mr Glanville and a 54-year-old man, believed to be his gardener, had been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and later rearrested on suspicion of murder.
They were bailed until next month but have been told no further action will be taken, police confirmed yesterday.
Detectives are understood to have concluded that they acted in self-defence.
An Essex Police spokesman said: ‘The 54-year-old man from Basildon and 60-year-old man from the Billericay area were due to answer bail on May 11 but have had it cancelled in advance due to insufficient evidence.’
The circumstances surrounding the fire at Mr Gallagher’s shack and the altercation at his neighbour’s house remain shrouded in mystery, although detectives have previously stated they believed the incidents were connected.
Neighbours have speculated he wrongly suspected Mr Glanville of starting the blaze and went to confront him. He is understood to have called 999 before walking the short distance along a track.
Coroner Eleanor McGann said at the opening of the inquest that Mr Gallagher ‘appeared to have broken into’ the farmhouse.
An ‘altercation broke out’ and the delivery driver was ‘struck on the head and fell to the floor with a traumatic head injury’. He was taken to hospital by the East Anglia Air Ambulance, which had Prince William among the crew.
Neighbour Margaret Bryan, 66, said at the time: ‘I heard that Ricci had gone into the house with a baseball bat and started smashing the place up.
‘He was being aggressive and they must have tried to stop him.’
She said no one knew how the fire had started in Mr Gallagher’s home on the morning of July 30 last year, adding: ‘If he thought that his neighbour had set fire to it and he went down to the house to get revenge then I think he was probably mistaken.’
Other locals said they understood the men moved in different circles and had never met.
Mr Glanville’s wife Tina, 60, fled to a neighbour’s house after discovering the crime scene on the evening her husband was arrested.
The former businessman, who has two children from his first marriage and two step-children with his second wife, had a 40-year career in finance and is believed to own several properties, including a 16-bedroom hotel in the Maldives.
He was chief finance officer for Aurora Fashions – the holding company for brands including Oasis, Warehouse and Coast.
Previously he was a director at firms including Mothercare, Comet and Stonehouse. There was no answer at his home last night.
Mr Gallagher, who did charity work as a driver for an Essex hospital, had moved into his property just a week before the fire and is understood to have been planning to demolish it and build a house on the three-acre site.
He previously lived in Benfleet, Essex, with his wife Linda, 58, who described him as a ‘very kind, considerate person’.