A WEALTHY former car dealer currently in jail for murdering his wife is being sued for £1.5 million by two of his sons and his wife’s sister.
At the Civil Appeal Court in London, the two men – sons of ex-Lancashire dealer Ian Workman – plus Carol Forrester claimed the money was rightfully theirs.
Their reasoning is that at the time of the killing, Ian and Susan Workman were getting divorced and £1.5m – half of Ian Workman’s £3m fortune – was the sum Susan Workman would have received as a settlement.
The sons – Ben, 27, and Nicholas, 23 – say that if their father is allowed to keep his fortune intact, he will have ‘profited’ from committing the crime.
Susan Workman was killed by a single stab wound to her heart during a row with her husband at their home in Edgworth, near Bolton, in April 2011.
Ian Workman murdered his wife. Now his sons are suing him…https://t.co/FagkuDsYHQ
— Manchester News MEN (@MENnewsdesk) February 14, 2017
But Ian Workman, 63, told the Court of Appeal, pictured, the attack happened because he was angry and not because of a financial motive, reported The Sun.
This was disputed by Stephen Killalea QC, representing Ben and Nicholas, who said the row was down to the financial implications of the divorce.
In 2013, the brothers were awarded £1.5m from their father’s fortune in a court judgment. But Mr Killalea alleged that Ian Workman had made no attempt to comply with the order.
The court was also told that he had given away much of his wealth to his eldest son Grant, 28, who is said to have ‘stuck by’ him in spite of his father’s murder conviction at Preston Crown Court in December 2011.
Ian Workman, who was given life imprisonment and told he would serve a minimum of 17 and a half years, claims his two younger sons are treating him ‘unfairly and oppressively’.
During his time in business, Workman owned IWG, a dealership group representing brands including Hyundai, Subaru and Isuzu in the Bolton area. After the company entered administration in 2000, he operated independently from a single site.
Judgment has been reserved to a later date.
Picture: Andrew Matthews PA Wire/PA Images
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