"EVIL INFLUENCE"

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23109, 6 August 1938, Page 2 (Supplement)

"EVIL INFLUENCE"

Court Ruling on O Will in Favour

STRONG comments on the conducit and "evil influence " of a chauffeur were made in the Probate Court, London, in an action against a will signed by an old woman on the day she died at sea. By this will she left £3500 to the chauffeur. " I submit," declared counsel, " that this was a deliberately planned fraud, and that in the execution of it Mr. Vince (the chauffeur) came as near as possible to committing constructive murder as it is possible for anyone to go without being tried for murder."

PRONOUNCING against the will made at sea and in favour of one which named the woman's husband as chief legatee, Mr. Justice Bucknill stated: I strongly suspect that Vince. doliberately gave her too much to drink, knowing, with the medical knowledge which he apparently had, that it must be the worst possible thing for her."

1937, was in the handwriting of Vinca and left him £3500. '

It did not leave one penny to the husband, with whom Mrs. Pullen bad lived for over 30 years and who had been a good husband to her. By the will of May 5,. 1936, she left the bulk of her property to her husband, and went out or her way to pay a merited testimonial to him. Great Heat of Red Sea Referring to the evidence of a stewardess as Mrs. Pullen was dying the Judge observed: "Mrs. Pullen was being looked after by Vince and by a Mrs. Skinner, who was in reality the mistress of Vince and had been stolen from her husband by Vince.

The action related to the estate of Mrs. Edith Pullen, of The Mall, SouthRate, Middlesex, who died on January 2 last year, aged 69. Mr. W. N. Stable, K.C., explained that the plaintiffs were Barclays Bank and Mr. John Henry Arthur Pullen respectively, sole executor and residuary legatee of a will made by Mrs. Pullen on May 5, 1936. Defence Struck Out

"It seems quite clear to me, after hearing all the evidence," added the Judge, "that Vince acquired a sinister, and evil influence over this poor old lady who was about 70 years of ageno one knows exactly her age was. "She was extnygjgy. fat and unwieldy, and in 1935 %ad been warned by her doctor that her heart ,was diseased and that she must not take too much alcohol.

The defendant, Mr. Thomas Franklin Vince, who was employed as chauffeur by Mr. and Mrs. Pullen, from September, 1936, put ;n a defence, an d, in substance, propounded a will dated January 2, 1937, the day on which Mrs. Pullen died aboard ship. Mr. Vince did not file an affidavit of documents, and by order of the Court

"Two people had warned her against Vince, one friend having told her that he was a villain, and another that he was a liar, hut she paid no attention. She treated Vince as a friend, and

his defence and counter-claim were struck out. "We sar," declared Mr. Stable, "that the will of January 2 was procured by the fraud and undue influence of Mr. Vince.

turned completely away, from her hus* band. , ' "Under the influence of Vince she started on a to Australia. 1 strongly suspect that Yince deliberately gave her too much to drink, knowing, with the medical knowledge which he apparently had, that it must be the worst possible thing for her, and knowing that the evil effects on a woman in her condition, sailing through the great, heat of the Red Seflj might prove fatal. "I am satisfied beyond -any doubt that Vince persuaded Mrs. Pullen, through Ibis undue influence, to destroy the will of May 5, 1936, and that she was not in a fit state to know and appreciate what she was doing or her duties toward her relatives, and that on her death-bed he extracted from her her signature to the second document. "I pronounce for the will of May 5, 1936, as contained in the completed draft, and against the document of January 2, 1937."

"Mrs. Pullen was put aboard a ship going to Australia. One can think of nothing better calculated to shorten the life of this corpulent old woman, suffering from heart disease and with an abhorrence of the sea, than a voyage to Australia, fortified by copious administrations of whisky and spirits provided by Mr. Vince." First Will Destroyed

Stating that he did not suppose Mr. Vince would go into the witness-bos, Mr. Stable added that it appeared from an affidavit sworn bv Mr. Vince that the will dated May 5, 1936, was destroyed by Mrs. Pullen in the presence of Mr". Vince a few days before she died.

"If your lordship is satisfied that the will of January 2. 1937, was procured by fraud," Mr. Stable continued, "I shall ask you to find that the destruction of the earlier will was all part of the same proceeding, and that it was brought about by the fraud of Mr. Vince."

Mr. Stable declared that Mr. Vince described himself as a doctor of medicine, and from time to time, when he stayed at an hotel, he registered as "Thomas F. Vince, M.D." 4 Undoubtedly, added Mr. Stable, he told Mrs. Pullen that he was a doctor, and she seemed to have thought that ho was one. Treated Him As Equal • "Mrs. Pullen," counsel went on, "seems to have been quite overwhelmed by Air. Vince, and she treated him as an equal. 1 submit that it is plain that Mr. Vince made up his mind to get this old woman into his clutches, to pander to her vanity and her love of drink, and to over-ride her will."

Mr. Pullen, in evidence, stated that he married in 1904. During all their married life his wife never went in a ship. "She had a horror of it," he declared. Questioned about his wife's estate, Mr. Pullen said that the £12,000 which she left was derived from him and his business.

Giving judgment, Mr. Justice Bucknill stated it was important to notice that the alleged will of January 2,