Paula Leeson: Trial collapses of man accused of wife's murder

Paula Leeson drowned in a swimming pool on holiday in Denmark

The trial of a man accused of murdering his wealthy wife to get his hands on a "vast fortune" has collapsed.

Paula Leeson, 47, drowned in a 4ft deep swimming pool while on holiday in a remote park of Denmark in June 2017.

Manchester Crown Court heard Donald McPherson, who denied murder, had taken out seven life insurance policies and stood to gain £3.5m if she died.

But Judge Mr Justice Goose directed the jury to return a not guilty verdict due to insufficient evidence.

He said it was not safe for jurors to convict Mr McPherson, 47, as the prosecution case was built on circumstantial evidence.

In a statement through his solicitors, Mr McPherson said: "A tragic accident is what it was and it saddens me, deeply, that the events in question should ever have been seen differently and that I was ever suspected of playing a part in Paula's death."

The couple were on holiday in the small Danish town of Norre Nebel in 2017

Mother-of-one Ms Leeson, from Sale in Greater Manchester, drowned at a holiday cottage while the couple were on a break in Denmark.

Pathologists found 13 separate injuries on her body, which jurors heard may have been sustained while being restrained or in a rescue and resuscitation attempt.

Stopping the trial, Mr Justice Goose said there were two available possibilities.

Firstly, Mr McPherson restrained his wife under water or overcame her in a struggle or pushed her to cause her to drown, he said.

Or secondly, Ms Leeson drowned by an accident, by a trip, fall or a faint, causing her to fall into the water, he added.

"Whilst the first of those alternatives is clearly more likely, that does not mean that a jury, on the face of the pathological evidence alone, could be sure of it," he said.

Prosecutor David McLachlan QC told the court there were no reasonable grounds for an appeal against the decision.