Company director stole £550,000 of her elderly stepfather's life savings to fund luxury Caribbean holidays, supplies for her horses and her daughter's wedding

By JAMES FIELDING, SENIOR REPORTER and ANGELA BELASSIE Published: 00:02, 8 July 2026 | Updated: 11:43, 8 July 2026 A horse–loving company director was funding her glamorous lifestyle by stealing hundreds of thousands of pounds from her elderly father–in–law. Mary Jane Haigh, 63, lived in a £500,000 converted barn, keeping horses and llamas and enjoyed regular international holidays to exotic locations. The former public school girl purported to be a successful business woman, running her own high–end equine transportation business. But the truth about Haigh was rather different: in fact she had nothing like the income she needed to support her aspirational lifestyle and was funding it by ruthlessly taking money from a wealthy but vulnerable old man. Her victim, David Skippen, would see over £550,000 of his life savings 'trickle away' while Haigh was purportedly looking after him – before she ruthlessly walked away from him when the money ran out, leaving the taxpayer to pick up unpaid care bills worth £30,000. She was finally jailed for six years this week. When the truth finally emerged, it was discovered that Haigh had spent thousands of Mr Skippen's cash on British Airways flights to destinations like the Caribbean and Peru, cleared an £86,875 bill run up on a John Lewis credit card and paid off a £50,000 loan to upgrade the yard where she kept horses. She further blew Mr Skippen's savings on supplies for her horses, a car upgrade, her daughter's wedding and nursery fees for her own grandchildren.  Mary Jane Haigh, 63, lived in a £500,000 converted barn, keeping horses and llamas and enjoyed regular international holidays to exotic locations. She is pictured here  Mrs Haigh pictured with her husband Michael Haigh. The former public school girl purported to be a successful business woman, running her own high–end equine transportation business Mary Jane Haigh is seen on a foreign holiday in 2013. Haigh lived in a £500,000 converted barn, keeping horses and llamas and enjoyed regular international holidays to exotic locations Her victim, David Skippen (pictured), would see over £550,000 of his life savings 'trickle away' while Haigh was purportedly looking after him  Mr Skippen meanwhile was forced out of the home he loved, hit with bills for tens of thousands of pounds for spurious services supposedly arranged by Haigh, and left without enough cash for himself to even buy new clothes. Haigh, who had adult children from a previous marriage, became Mr Skippen's stepdaughter when he married her mother, Mary. She met her husband, Michael on a diving trip and they married in 1994. Her husband was a financial advisor but dreamed of making a career out of his diving hobby – and didn't excel in his actual job. At the time they began to exploit her stepfather, the Haighs had set up home in a converted barn worth over half–a–million–pounds in Hallen, South Gloucestershire, but despite presenting as both having successful professional careers, they had a combined annual income of under £50,000 – not nearly enough to fund the country gentlewoman lifestyle she craved. Elderly Mr Skippen meanwhile was mortgage free, with a large savings account and completely independent. But when his wife Mary – Haigh's mother – died aged 75 at Christmas 2011, Haigh and her husband Michael began to realise there was an opportunity for them to transform their dire finances by getting their hands on Mr Skippen's money. Indeed their plot may even have been inspired by their victim's own generosity. There were mistakes made in Mary's treatment in the lead up to her death and a subsequent clinical negligence case saw compensation of £75,000 paid to Mr Skippen after the hospital admitted liability. And to acknowledge their help in bringing the case, Mr Skippen gave the haighs £32,500. This generosity apparently left the Haighs wanting more. The couple soon coerced the new widower into moving closer to them so they could be closer to his cash. Mr Skippen's longtime neighbour would later recall that the old man had been 'tearful' and did not want to leave his home in Devizes, Wiltshire, where his wife was buried. Despite his reluctance to leave, his controlling new relative insisted – and in October 2013 he moved into the home she shared with his son and then they quickly moved him to a flat owned by Haigh's daughter from her first marriage. Despite previously having lived in the home he owned outright for free, under his new arrangement Mr Skippen would be charged some £25,000 in 'rent' over the next three years. The home belonging to her late father in law David Skippen in Devizes Wiltshire that was sold is pictured The home of Mary Jane Haigh in South Gloucestershire is pictured. Having taken all his money the Haighs washed their hands. In January 2020, the Haighs formally tried relinquished their power of attorney on the basis that they could not afford to contribute to his needs - but Mr Skippen died before they could  The Haighs registered themselves as having power of attorney for David in 2015, which meant they could legally make decisions on his behalf. The same year, Mr Skippen changed his will which had previously stated that his entire estate would be shared equally among his grandchildren to instead give a 25 per cent share to Haigh. There were other spurious invoices too. mr haigh would charge Mr Skippen £150 an hour for 'financial advice'.  Haigh's other adult daughter from her first marriage was paid a regular wage from David's funds to care for him – a payment which continued to be regularly debited from his accounts even after he finally went into a care home. While this was going on, Haigh's brother Dr Paul Hunt, was becoming increasingly suspicious. In 2014 Dr Hunt tried various bodies, including social services, the local GP surgery and The Office of Public Guardian, to try to get his stepfather's circumstances investigated. He also raised concerns with the hospital that treated his father and the Financial Conduct Authority. The following year he even called in police – only to be told they couldn't help with financial matters. And this meant his sister and her husband were able to sell Mr Skippen's house in 2015 for £286,000 all of which they kept. But their victim's health was deteriorating under their regime. In 2017 he was diagnosed with dementia, prompting that move into a care home. Having taken all his money the Haighs then washed their hands. In January 2020, the Haighs formally relinquished their power of attorney on the basis that they could not afford to contribute to his needs - but Mr Skippen died before they could. Mr Skippen died four months later, aged 84. His savings long gone, it was left to the local council to settle the unpaid £30,000 bill for his care. By this time, the police were finally investigating the Haighs and the missing money. But what happened next, in 2023, would see one of the culprits escape any criminal action: her husband shot himself. A subsequent inquest ruled that the incident involving a rifle was accidental. And his widow posted of his death: 'I'm just lost without you. Miss you totally, you are and always will be my best friend – words fail me.' But his death meant that Mrs Haigh would face justice alone – in a trial at Bristol Crown Court. Prosecutor Gregor Gordon told the court that the death of Mr Skippen's elderly wife Mary had paved the way for the couple's crime: 'He's suddenly alone and vulnerable and was a man they could exploit and they saw an opportunity.' During the trial Haigh repeatedly tried to blame the husband she was supposedly lost without for stealing his father's money. But Mr Gordon insisted: 'Again and again you have tried to say this was your husband's doings but you were in it together… This was you and your husband acting together in pure greed.' He told the jury the couple had acted in a 'predatory fashion', had 'groomed him from the outset' and had seen their victim as a 'piggy bank'. Haigh, a former convent school pupil and student of St Aldates Secretarial College, was found guilty of theft and two counts of fraud dating from 2012 to 2020 following a trial which lasted over four weeks. This week she was sentenced to six years in prison. There will be a proceeds of crime hearing next year. Dr Hunt, a retired general practitioner, said after the hearing he was upset he and his family had missed out on time with David. Haigh had nothing like the income she needed to support her aspirational lifestyle and was funding it by ruthlessly taking money from a wealthy but vulnerable old man He said: 'Mary Jane has cost the public purse through her fraud and nonpayment of bills, while living the high life. 'It was upsetting to lose contact with David and see him losing his dignity. We can never get this time back but it is good to see that at long last justice has been served.' Haigh, who was a smoker, named one of her horses Benson and Hedges, and also kept llamas – inspired by a trip to Peru funded by her stepfather's cash. The final indignity was that Haigh disposed of her victim's ashes without telling his surviving relatives where or inviting them to attend.