Leigh Voysey: Jail for former Hadhams private school head girl and co-conspirators from Bishop’s Stortford and Harlow who tried to forge old headmistress’s £4m will
A Little Hadham woman and co-conspirators from Bishop’s Stortford and Harlow have been jailed for conspiring to forge her former headmistress’s will to gain her £4.2m estate.
In 2021, Leigh Voysey, 46, a long-time employee at Homebase in Stortford, claimed to have been named the sole beneficiary of a last testament made by Much Hadham woman Maureen Renny before she passed away in January 2020, aged 82.
From the age of eight, Voysey attended the private Barn School in the village, where she claimed to be head girl and Mrs Renny was head. Until it closed in 1998, the teacher’s seven-bedroom home, Hill House, was the site of the school.
Voysey, who also attended Herts and Essex High School in Stortford, claimed the deceased left her entire estate to her, including the £2.25 million house, to stop the teacher’s family selling it to developers.
The family, who knew nothing of Voysey or the 2019 will, reported the matter to police, suspecting it was a forgery.
The will had been “verified” and witnessed by two friends of Voysey. The trio appeared in court in October following their arrest and pleaded guilty to the charges. They returned to St Albans Crown Court last Thursday (December 5) for sentencing.
Voysey, of Standon Road, Little Hadham, was sentenced to six-and-a-half years for fraud by false representation and four-and-a-half years for forgery, to run concurrently.
Amber Collingwood, 44, of Red Lion Court, Bishop’s Stortford, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years and Ben Mayes, 42, formerly of Milwards, Harlow, to two-and-a-half years, both for forgery.
Det Con Sian Beames, from Hertfordshire Constabulary’s serious fraud and cyber unit, who led the case, said: “Voysey had befriended the deceased on only one occasion before she died and saw an opportunity to wrongfully make a claim to ownership of the estate.
“She had previously been a pupil at the deceased’s school, having left over 30 years ago.
“The family, with help from our detectives, was able to prove that this was an opportunistic attempt to steal the family’s inheritance and keep the proceeds for herself and her accomplices.
“The victims, who were the true beneficiaries of the estate, had been further subject to a lengthy civil trial costing thousands.
“The impact on them has been huge in terms of mental, physical and emotional distress.”
Det Con Beames added: “This was an extremely complex and long-running investigation which required detailed study of probate law and examination of the forged document.”
Voysey also faces a High Court costs order over the will – said to be in the region of £197,000 – in addition to her prison sentence.
