This case involves a couple going through a divorce and the Court was asked to decide how the finances should be divided. The BBC reports that during the course of proceedings the husband obtained three valuations of the house from estate agents but subsequently tampered with the emails to change the values, making them lower. It seems his aim was to pay his wife less if the house was transferred to him. The BBC reports that the values were lowered by about £5,000, which would have saved him £2,500. These valuations were subsequently used as evidence at Court.
It seems that the husband was not successful in his application to have the house transferred to him, and the Court ordered the house to be placed on the market for sale. The wife requested a copy of the valuation from one of the agents, which showed a different figure to that which the husband had provided. As the husband had lied to the Court this became a criminal matter and the husband is reported to have received a prison sentence.
Let this be a lesson to anyone who is tempted to tamper with evidence!
A man who misled a court about the true value of his family home during divorce proceedings has been jailed for seven-and-a-half months.
Anthony Cooke, 50, lowered three estate agent valuations for the property in Peel between March and July 2021.
The court heard he had submitted altered emails during the proceedings and relied on them in sworn evidence.
Deemster Richard Parkes said his actions had 'struck at the heart of the administration of justice'.
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