The stargazer, his £400,000 will and a ‘best mate’ riddle
ASTRONOMERS are locked in a court fight over the £400,000 will of a celebrated colleague who left everything to his ‘best mate’ – without naming one.
Roy Panther found fame in 1980 when he discovered a comet with a homemade telescope from his suburban home. He was also interviewed by Patrick Moore on the BBC’s The Sky at Night. The stargazer,
‘Granted small cash sums’
who died in 2016, had planned to leave almost all his worldly goods to the British Astronomical Association but a bitter row has since erupted after the discovery of a later, deathbed will.
The handwritten document promises everything to ‘my best mate’ – and lifelong friend and fellow astronomer Alan Gibbs is trying to prove he is the rightful heir.
The case – to be fought next year – is being contested by the BAA, which says stating ‘my best mate’ is not enough to make a will valid. It insists Mr Panther was too ill to fully understand what he was doing when writing the document before his death in hospital. The amateur astronomer, who had created an observatory at his Northamptonshire home, made his amazing discovery on Christmas Day 1980.
He was conducting a ‘systematic search’ of the night sky when he spotted a new object in the far north, within the constellation of Draco. It would officially become known as Comet Panther.
It came after 600 hours of searching and Mr Panther later said it would mean his name would not be ‘forgotten to posterity’. In 1986 he made a will leaving almost all of his fortune, including his home in Walgrave, to the BAA, of which he was a long-term member.
Two friends were granted small cash sums, while another, Colin Eaton, was named executor of the £400,000 will. He was left £10,000 as well as Mr Panther’s charts and equipment.
But Mr Gibbs, from Northampton, claims that while in hospital before his death, Mr Panther had dictated a new will, leaving everything to him instead.
Mr Gibbs says he transcribed the document, which was dated September 11, 2016, on the instruction of his friend. In documents filed at Central London County Court, his barrister Chris Bryden said: ‘The ordinary and natural meaning of the phrase “best mate” and the intention of the deceased was clearly to refer to Mr Gibbs.’
But the BAA says the document was not duly executed because it did not name the actual beneficiary. It is also raising questions over how the will was witnessed.
Judge Alan Johns KC granted an application for medical evidence about Mr Panther’s ‘capacity’ at the time of signing. He had suffered a fall at home and was said by hospital staff to be ‘finding it difficult to understand’ communications.