‘Ladies’ man’ left nothing in will to partner

A WOMAN who said she stuck by her lover for 23 years despite his poor hygiene and multiple affairs has been left empty-handed after he bequeathed his £500,000 estate to horse charities.

Although a “skinflint” who lived in a rat-infested home, John Hopkins dressed as a country gentleman and had success with women, at one point going on holiday with two lovers, the High Court heard.

Margaret Rawlings claimed she had stuck by him and had even given him £70,000 to help him build his idyllic farmhouse with the expectation of inheriting it and its 70 acres of land.

When the 86-year-old died in 2010 she found out his Gloucestershire country estate was going to two charities and she launched legal action.

However, delivering a ruling at the High Court, Judge David Cooke said Mrs Rawlings, 82, could have no such expectation and rejected her claim.

In her evidence, Mrs Rawlings, who now lives in Seaton, Devon, said she had had a monogamous relationship with Mr Hopkins when she lived in Cheltenham in the Eighties.

When the house was built on Mr Hopkins’ farm, near Cheltenham, in 1992, she moved in, but it had no mains water. Baths and showers could not be used, as water had to be drawn from a well and driven to the house.

Mr Hopkins’ poor hygiene led to her ending their physical relationship, and in 1993 he moved a girlfriend into a caravan on the land and then into the house. “It was well known that John had various lady friends who would live with us at the house from time to time,” she told the judge.

Mrs Rawlings said her lover had ploughed £100,000 into plans for the house on his farm, but it was she who paid for the work to be finished. She said he had told her on several occasions “this will all be yours one day”.

But the judge said there was evidence which suggested their relationship had not been as close as Mrs Rawlings claimed.

A son of one of Mr Hopkins’ other lovers said his mother had lived with the pensioner “almost as man and wife” in the Eighties at the exact time when Mrs Rawlings claimed to have been in a monogamous relationship with him.

He said Mr Hopkins was a “skinflint” but “had a lot of lady friends”, with women “coming and going all the time”.

Giving his ruling, Judge Cooke said: “It is clear he continued to maintain multiple relationships.

“His niece gave evidence that, in the Nineties and after, he had long-term si- multaneous relationships with both Sue Mustoe and Catherine Holder, known as Lyn, to the extent he took both on holiday at the same time.”

He said Mr Hopkins lived in squalor, “allowed the house to become infested by rats” and would scour supermarket bins for food.

In his will, Mr Hopkins left four £5,000 bequests to individuals – but nothing to Mrs Rawlings.

The rest of his worldly wealth went to The Horse Trust and the Society for the Welfare of Horses and Ponies.