Clemo, Gillian

Following a retrial, Gillian Clemo was convicted in May 2011 at Newport Crown Court of using a false instrument with intent, contrary to section 3 of the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981.

Ms Clemo received a £1,000 fine with £7,500 prosecution costs and a £15 victim impact surcharge.

Ms Clemo sought to appeal against the conviction in January 2012, but the application for leave to appeal was dismissed. The CCRC received an application for review of the conviction in December 2012.

Ms Clemo had been prosecuted after it was alleged she had forged signatures on a will. At trial, the prosecution relied on evidence from a handwriting expert and witness testimonies. The defence argued the will was not a forgery and called their own handwriting expert in support.

During review, the CCRC obtained another copy of the will. The new will bore the same signatures and was located in an envelope addressed to a former solicitor and friend to the deceased.

Ms Clemo was supported in her application by two new reports from a handwriting expert in whose opinion there was “very strong support” for the view that the new will bore the genuine signature of the deceased.

The CCRC concluded that the new will and fresh expert evidence gave rise to a real possibility that the Court of Appeal would find Ms Clemo’s conviction to be unsafe.

The CCRC referred the conviction in August 2013.

The Court of Appeal quashed the conviction in July 2014.