Fraudster who killed wife sentenced for contempt

A fraudster who was found to have unlawfully killed his millionaire wife in Denmark has been sentenced to two years in prison for contempt of court.

Donald McPherson was cleared of the murder of Paula Leeson in 2021 when a judge directed a jury to find him not guilty through a lack of evidence.

But an inquest judge found he had unlawfully killed Ms Leeson, who drowned in the swimming pool at a remote holiday cottage booked by her husband for a summer break in 2017.

McPherson was found to be in contempt of court after failing to disclose assets.

A High Court judge found McPherson had unlawfully killed Ms Leeson after her family sought to block him from benefiting from her death and her £4.4 million estate.

• Who was millionaire killed by fraudster husband?

In September last year, the judge concluded that McPherson compressed his wife's neck in an arm lock until she was unconscious.

Danish authorities initially treated the death as a tragic accident, though she had suffered 13 separate external injuries.

McPherson has always denied any involvement in his wife's death and had told police he awoke to find Ms Leeson face down in the shallow pool.

In January, McPherson was found to be in contempt of court when he failed to disclose assets.

Judge Mark Cawson KC said in a judgment in February, which was published on Wednesday, that the contempt was "so serious that only a custodial sentence will suffice".

He sentenced McPherson to two years in prison, adding he would only serve half of that in the event that he complied with the asset disclosure order.

McPherson "has committed some 32 criminal offences of dishonesty and fraud in various jurisdictions throughout the world", Judge Cawson added.

He said: "In these circumstances, there is simply no basis for any discount being given on the basis of the defendant being of good character.

"He is plainly a man of bad character."

Ms Leeson's family run a successful skip and plant hire business in south Manchester, which Ms Leeson helped to run, and where she first came into contact with McPherson, who claimed to be a successful property developer.

McPherson had taken out several secret life insurance policies on his wife before her death, worth £3.5m.

Despite running out of money, he was paying about £500 a month on insurance policies.

McPherson was described at a previous court hearing as a "Walter Mitty" who had changed his name multiple times and whose previous wife and child died in a house fire.

His 32 convictions span 15 years in three countries.

At the time of the High Court judge's inquest ruling in September, he was believed to be living somewhere in the South Pacific.

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