Widow 'broke vow to gardener'
A gardener worked for no pay for seven years for a widow who promised to make him her heir - then left her property to someone else, the High Court was told.
Bob Taylor, 57, who had believed he would one day inherit Gertrude Parker's home worth more than GBP250,000 (HK$3.28 million), failed in an attempt to contest her will.
In 1988, Parker promised Mr Taylor, who worked for her for 21 years, to leave him her house when she died. Out of gratitude, Mr Taylor offered to look after the garden for free and cook her meals.
But in 1995, shortly before her death aged 86, Parker made a new will leaving her home to one of her nurses, who she felt could be better trusted to look after her two cats - 'the real loves of her life', her lawyer said.
The judges said Mr Taylor was entitled only to the GBP1,000 she left him.
