British Bardot ‘conned into leaving £1m estate to pair’
AN ACTRESS once billed as “Britain’s answer to Brigitte Bardot” was conned into leaving her entire £1 million estate to two property consultants, London’s Southwark Crown Court heard.
Claire Gordon was described as a bubbly blonde actress and comedienne who appeared in cult films such as Beat Girl (1959), a beatnik drama, from which sprung the Bardot reference, and Konga (1961), and was once said to be a rival to Diana Dors. The court also heard that The Three Musketeers, a 1966 musical, gave her the claim to fame of being the first British actress to appear fully naked on stage.
She had a fortune of £904,839 comprising cash, shares, bonds and a property in Egypt when she died in April 2015 aged 74, the court heard. Iain Macmaster, 70, of Fitzrovia, west London, and Morris Benhamu, 42, of Hendon, north-west London, each deny a charge of conspiracy to defraud and fraud.
Mark Halsey, prosecuting, told the jury that although Ms Gordon did not have children, she had cousins and a much-loved god-daughter who may have thought they were in line for a share. Mr Macmaster is not related to Ms Gordon but he collected her from hospital after she had a knee operation in October 2014 and was recorded by officials as a next of kin.
Mr Halsey said Mr Macmaster “took advantage of that and then composed a false will” where all of Ms Gordon’s estate went to him and Mr Benhamu.
It is alleged they falsely represented that Ms Gordon was in “a fit and proper state” to sign a will in her name in November 2014 and that she “genuinely intended to bequeath her estate” to them. The hearing resumes on Thursday.