A GOOD Samaritan who cared for an elderly Loughton bachelor in his twilight years was victorious in her High Court battle to hang on to the £300,000 life savings he gave her to say thank you.

Susan Osborn, 53, formerly of Meadow Road, Loughton, cooked meals daily, shopped and handled financial affairs for her neighbour, author and academic Dennis Pritler, for the last few years of his life.

Mr Pritler died of pneumonia in November 1999, aged 74, without leaving a will.

Towards the end of his life, Mrs Osborn and her son, Lee Francis, 29, from Rayleigh, cashed in his investments and banked over £290,000 in her own account.

They told Mr Pritler's family that it was a gift and he "had wanted her to have it".

But Mr Pritler's 73-year-old cousin, Margaret Hammond, of Stewards Green Road, Epping, sued Mrs Osborn and Mr Francis, claiming no gift was ever intended or that the money had been obtained by "undue influence".

Both accusations were dismissed by Mr Justice MacKay last Thursday.

He described Mr Pritler as an "intellectual" and ruled that he had given Mrs Osborn the money entirely of his own free will.

He said: "The question is, was this a gift or a transfer of funds with the intent that Mrs Osborn should manage it on behalf of Mr Pritler?

"He had deployed his savings well and they were being managed perfectly adequately by professional managers. The only reason for cashing those investments would be to spend the money on himself, or to give it to someone else."

Mr Justice McKay added: "I find that he didn't need or intend to do the first of these. In my judgement he did intend to give this money to Mrs Osborn.

"I found her an emotional person, a kind person prepared to put herself out for an old man in trouble, and to follow it up with practical assistance, without at that stage any prospect of reward."

Mrs Osborn burst into tears when the judge announced his ruling. She said: "I still feel like it's Dennis's money.

"I feel honoured to have been given it by such a man."

November 1, 2001 17:12