02 October 2023 , 09:14
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The traumatised wife of a millionaire murderer has beaten him in a highly "unusual" divorce court fight for a £750,000 share of their fortune.
Wealthy pig farmer James Seales was convicted of the 2012 shotgun murder of Philip Strickland, despite claiming he had been at home watching Emmerdale at the time of the killing. Seales, 66, is currently behind bars serving a life sentence, with a minimum term of 15 years, which he was handed in April 2014, although he continues to proclaim his innocence.
And now he has come off worse in another court fight - this time over the assets of his marriage to estranged wife and mother of his kids, Alison Seales, 55. Mrs Seales - who was with her husband for 19 years - told a High Court judge that she is "terrified" of her violent ex and is "psychologically scarred from her many years of living in an abusive relationship" with him prior to his incarceration.
Now Judge Evan Bell has handed her a £750,000 share of their £1m fortune - rather than splitting the wealth equally - after ruling that Seales' "conduct" in "the carrying out of a murder" should lead to him getting a lesser share of the family money now that the divorce is being finalised. Murder victim Philip Strickland, 36, from Comber, Co Down, Northern Ireland, was killed on the evening of January 11, 2012, when he was blasted in the leg and face with a shotgun.
Seales was convicted of a 2012 murder (Photopress Belfast)
Philip Strickland was shot dead (Photopress Belfast)The trial heard that, following an assault on Seales in September 2011, graffiti about him appeared and comments were posted on Facebook which the family attributed to Mr Strickland. Seales, of Raffrey, Co Down, has always denied being at the scene of the killing and said he was at home watching Emmerdale, but the jury rejected his claim and convicted him of murder and of possessing a shotgun with intent.
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Still behind bars nine years after he was sentenced, Seales represented himself in a divorce hearing last month, during which his wife's KC Adele O'Grady asked Judge Master Evan Bell to hand her an unusually large share of the family fortune due to the fact her husband is a killer. Ms O'Grady asked the judge to take into account the husband's murderous "conduct" as well as the negative effect that Mrs Seales says living in a relationship with him has had on her.
Judge Bell, sitting in the Family Division of the Northern Irish High Court, said in his ruling that Mrs Seales suffers from symptoms linked with post traumatic stress disorder. "Her doctor’s evidence was that there was no doubt that the wife had been psychologically scarred from her many years of living in an abusive relationship," he continued.
A police cordon at the murder scene near Comber, County Down (Photopress Belfast)"She remains terrified of her husband and of the fact that he could persuade others to physically harm her. This is an unusual ancillary relief application. The wife had mounted what is usually described as 'a conduct case,' that is to say she submitted that there had been conduct by the husband, namely the carrying out of a murder, which would not be equitable for the court to disregard and should result in an additional portion of the assets being awarded to the wife in these proceedings.
"Both parties enjoyed a comfortable standard of living prior to the breakdown of the marriage. The marriage was of significant duration, having lasted some 19 years until the separation," he said, adding that the assets of the marriage amounted to around £1m, made up of £188,000 cash and two properties.
"The husband submitted that, given the length of the marriage, the appropriate outcome of this case was that the assets referred to above ought to be divided on a 50/50 basis. The husband considered that, firstly, I ought not to take into account his criminal conviction for murder and the consequences that the wife alleged flowed from it. Secondly, the husband also denied any domestic abuse of his wife".
Forensic officers collect evidence (PA)The judge found as a fact that the wife had suffered domestic abuse at the hands of Seales, pointing out the judge at his murder trial had been told by his sons that he was "an angry wee man," finding they "both had a miserable childhood under the thumb of your bullying, domineering father.”
"This view is, of course, entirely consistent with my...finding of the husband’s domestic abuse of the wife," said Judge Bell. Giving evidence, Mr Seales had refused to accept that having her husband convicted of murder would have had a "devastating effect" on his wife or that she had been made a "social pariah" in her area.
"In my view, the consequences of the husband’s involvement in the murder of Mr Strickland on the life and physical and mental health of the wife have been profound," the judge continued. "I am also satisfied that the husband’s conviction and its aftermath has had a profound impact on the wife’s ability to earn a living. She gave evidence that she was not able to work due to her anxiety.
"At one stage she did get a job but said that she 'just fell to pieces.' She finds it difficult even to leave the house unless she is accompanied by someone else. After her husband was arrested she had a breakdown and regards herself as 'never right since then.' She told the court that life had been non-existent since then.
"The lack of gainful employment would obviously make it difficult for her to obtain a mortgage in the future. Unsurprisingly, she wants to move from the current matrimonial home. This case is, in my view, the paradigm example of a conduct case where the husband’s conduct is so outrageous that it would be utterly inequitable to disregard it. I am therefore compelled to take both aspects of the husband’s matrimonial conduct into account in the division of the matrimonial assets.
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"The husband submitted that he deserved a 50% split of the family assets. He told the court that he was 66 years old, had two granddaughters to look after, and wanted to move on with his life when he was released from prison. He told me that, unlike his wife, he had no benefit from any of his assets for the past 12 years. On the other hand, counsel for the wife submitted that the appropriate division of the assets would be a 75% award to the wife and a 25% award to the husband.
"I consider that, in the light of my findings of fact in relation to the conduct of the husband, the appropriate decision in this case is that the assets of the parties shall be divided on the basis of 75% to the wife and 25% to the husband. This must not in any way be regarded as further punishment of the husband for the crime of murdering Mr Strickland. His punishment for that was delivered by the criminal courts.
"In reaching this ancillary relief decision, I have taken into account the conduct that the wife has suffered for many years, its impact on her physical and emotional health, and that I do not foresee the wife ever being able to engage in gainful employment, such has been the devastation to her well being.
"I therefore order that the two properties shall forthwith be placed on the market for sale and the net proceeds, together with the funds held by the solicitor, shall be divided in the way in which I have indicated." The judge ordered that the £188,000 cash currently being held by solicitors ought to be released to the wife immediately.