Jane Brady on landmark prosecution

28 May 2021

This is a landmark case. This is the first time in 100 years that the Crown Prosecution Service has authorised an offence of murder by deliberate starvation, and in this case for financial gain.

Jane Brady prosecutes woman, guilty of murdering millionaire for his fortune…

A woman has been found guilty of murdering her millionaire landlord in order to inherit part of his £3.5m estate.

Anthony Sootheran, 59, died at High Havens Farm, near South Newington, Oxfordshire, in 2014.

The “recluse” relied on care from Lynda Rickard, 62, who forged his will before depriving him of food and medical help.

Her husband Wayne Rickard, 66, was cleared of murder but found guilty of allowing or causing the death.

Jane Brady, Counsel for the Prosecution has advised the Crown Prosecution Service from Pre-charge stage.

The couple, from Banbury, were Mr Sootheran’s live-in tenants. They will be sentenced on Tuesday 1st June 2021.

During the trial, the jury heard Mrs Rickard “ruthlessly exploited” Mr Sootheran and his mother, Joy Sootheran, who died in 2012.

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Jane Brady

Jane Brady

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