Oxfordshire officer receives award for his contribution to "Most complex case he's ever worked on"
Detective Superintendent Andy Howard and his team received recognition from the Thames Valley Chief Constable for their work on the case of Anthony Sootheran
DS Andy Howard and his team received the award for their work on a ground breaking case, which was a first for both England and Wales.
In 2014, 59-year-old Anthony Sootheran died at his farm near South Newington, but several years later police discovered that his tenant had starved him to death in order to inherit part of his 3 point 5 million pound estate.
Mr Sootheran who was over six feet tall, was found dead on March 18 2014 weighing less than nine stone, having lost so much weight due to malnutrition.
It's the first ever murder case in England and Wales of someone who was starved to death.
Carer Lynda Rickard, 62, was found guilty of murdering former auctioneer’s clerk James Sootheran, known as Anthony, 59, at his property in the village of South Newington.
Rickard had previously been paid £47,000 a year to look after his elderly mother, Mary Sootheran, known as Joy, until her death in 2012 aged 92.
She lived on the farm with her American-born husband Wayne Rickard, 66 before they were evicted in 2017.
Rickard admitted helping herself to tens of thousands of pounds of the Sootherans’ money, which was used to fund her family’s lifestyle, including private school fees for her three now-adult children.
She also forged the mother and son’s wills, which would have given her half of Mrs Sootheran’s £1.5 million estate and a third of Mr Sootheran’s £3.5 million.
Due to the difficult financial complexity of the investigation DS Andy Howard was awarded the Chief Constables commendation of excellence on May 1st at a ceremony at the Thames Valley Police training college near Reading.