Bid to stop widower inheriting heiress's fortune

Paula Leeson died while on holiday in Denmark in 2017

The family of a wealthy heiress who drowned in a shallow swimming pool have launched a High Court bid to bar her husband from accessing her £4.4m estate.

Donald McPherson was charged with the murder of his wife Paula Leeson, 47, after her death while they were on holiday in Denmark.

But in 2021 a judge ordered a jury at Manchester Crown Court to find him not guilty after ruling there was insufficient evidence for a safe conviction.

Property developer Mr McPherson had claimed to be sleeping when Ms Leeson drowned at a remote cottage on 6 June, 2017.

The 50-year-old had taken out seven "secret" life insurance polices on his "besotted" wife before her death, his murder trial had heard.

Mr McPherson, who was born Alexander James Lang and is originally from New Zealand, stood to gain £3.5m if his wife died.

The couple were on holiday in the small Danish town of Norre Nebel in 2017 when Ms Leeson died

The day after Ms Leeson's death, Mr McPherson began transferring large sums of money from her accounts to clear his debts.

The following week he joined a group called "Widowed and Young", which he described as "Tinder for widows".

The murder trial was halted when judge Mr Justice Goose ruled that, on the basis of the evidence, an accidental death could not be ruled out.

On Monday Ms Leeson's family asked a judge at Manchester Civil Court of Justice to rule she was unlawfully killed - meaning Mr McPherson would forfeit any legal entitlement to the contents of her will.

The civil case requires a judge to be sure on the "balance of probabilities", a lower standard of proof than the "beyond reasonable doubt" verdict required in criminal cases.

Ms Leeson’s father, Willy, who owned the family construction firm, her brother Neville and only son, Ben, attended the hearing.

Mr McPherson, who had previously told judge Mr Justice Richard Smith that he would attend court, was not present and the case went ahead without him.

'Inconsistent and dishonest'

He is believed to be living in several countries in the South Pacific, including French Polynesia and Fiji.

The court was told Mr McPherson has been convicted of 32 criminal offences of dishonesty or fraud in New Zealand, the UK and Germany, where he was jailed for involvement in an £11.8m bank fraud.

The Leesons' lawyer, Lesley Anderson KC, told the court the mother-of-one was 5ft 5 inches tall yet drowned in a pool that was under 4ft deep, even though she could swim and was otherwise healthy.

Ms Anderson said: “Essentially our case is that Paula must have been unconscious when she went into the water, otherwise her natural reaction would be to stand up to save herself."

She suggested Ms Leeson was likely rendered unconscious by a "choke-hold or neck-hold".

'Running out of money'

The court heard Mr McPherson was “running out of money” which “super-charged the financial motive” for him.

Ms Anderson said he had given “inconsistent and dishonest” accounts of what had happened in Denmark.

He had also “systematically” deleted data from his wife’s phone which may have explained what happened, Ms Anderson said, and was a man who had shown “almost no upset or remorse” over her death.

The trial heard the couple got married after a “whirlwind romance” in a “no expense spared” ceremony at Peckforton Castle, Cheshire, in June 2014.

Ms Leeson had stood to inherit the family business owned by her father, who had built up a successful groundwork and skip hire firm in Sale, Greater Manchester.

She oversaw the skip hire business, where she met property renovator Mr McPherson.

After he was acquitted in a statement through his solicitors, Mr McPherson denied any involvement in his wife’s death.

The hearing continues.