Two charities lose out due to forged will
Howard Lake | 23 October 2014 | News
Two charities in Northern Ireland are considerably out of pocket because of a forged will, it was revealed in court yesterday.
Two local charities, the Southern Area Hospice and the Ulster Cancer Foundation, now called Cancer Focus, were to be amongst the main beneficiaries of the £1 million will of an elderly women, Kitty Haughey, who died in 2004.
However, in court yesterday local farmer Francis Tiernan admitted forging the will in his favour just two weeks before Ms Haughey’s death. Until then, the charities and Ms Haughey’s friend Alice Quinn had been the main beneficiaries of the will. It was Ms Quinn’s suspicions that led to the court case.
After originally denying the charge of forging the will, Tiernan has now admitted doing so. A GP and a surveyor had already pleaded guilty to drafting and witnessing the fake document. Both were given suspended sentences earlier this month.
According to the BBC, the hospice and the Ulster Cancer Foundation have lost out because “the estate has suffered loss and damage” while in Tiernan’s control and the money has mostly been spent.
Mr Tiernan will be sentenced tomorrow.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.