Builders' Plot To Swindle £870K Home From Pensioner's Relatives

Tony Casey

Three builders’ plot to swindle an isolated octogenarian out of his £870,000 Earlsfield home was ruined when a “shocked and surprised” distant relative saw it up for sale, a court heard today.

Batchelor Henry James Bennett - known as ‘Jim’ - died aged 88 years-old in the house he had resided all his life and immediately the trio tried to cash in, the jury were told.

They are: Tony Casey, 34, of Brookes Place, Potters Bar; Jeremiah O’Connor, 38, of Broadway, Morecambe, Lancashire and John O’Connor, 37, of Knatts Valley Homes, Sevenoaks, Kent.

Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court heard Mr. Bennett received £20,000 in 2007 for the freehold in exchange for a 21-year lease that allowed him to continue living at 51 Brookwood Road.

Prosecutor Mr. Nicholas Alexander said a company owned by John O’Connor provided the funds and the property was signed over to his brother Jeremiah before ownership was transferred to Casey.

Isolated Mr. Bennett, who did not even have a home phone died, on March 23, 2016 and two weeks later Casey had his death certificate and was arranging the cheapest cremation he could find.

He told the funeral directors Mr. Bennett was his uncle, but changed his story and claimed he was his grandfather to locksmiths and a solicitor.

Jeremiah O'Connor

When the solicitor questioned the whereabouts of Casey’s father, potentially the next-of-kin, the defendant said he disappeared to Ireland twenty years ago and had not been seen or heard of since. 

Casey insisted on “low key” marketing of the property, but once the estate agents persuaded him to advertise on the internet it was spotted by Mr. Bennett’s second cousin in Dorset.

“I found out the house was on the market and I was shocked and surprised and very curious,” Linda Sutton told the jury.

“It was very upsetting the cremation had taken place and the ashes were still with the funeral directors,” added Mrs Sutton, who paid the £2,000 balance Casey had avoided.

She had only met Mr. Bennett once, back in 1990, but exchanged occasional letters with him and sometimes received calls via a public telephone.

John O'Connor

“I was seeking to right the wrong,” said Mrs Sutton, who reported the house sale to police and was awarded the property in civil court, a judgement unsuccessfully challenged by Casey.

Casey says he was “treated like a grandson” by Mr. Bennett, who he gave “friendship and emotional support.”

He also says Mr. Bennett was of “sound mind” when the freehold was transferred. 

Jeremiah O’Connor says he was in the USA when the property was transferred, denying he had knowledge of the purchase or its change of ownership to Casey.

All three have pleaded not guilty to conspiring to defraud Mr. Bennett and his beneficiaries between January 1, 1997 and April 11, 2019.

Trial continues…………..