Ex estate agent goes on trial

A former estate agent, Mark Howe, has gone on trial at Leeds Crown Court accused of conning elderly people into giving him their life savings. He is alleged to have stolen more than £790,000 between 1998 and 2007 to fund his own life of luxury.

Howe, 43, of Driffield, Yorkshire, denies 18 charges of theft and deception.

Howe ran several businesses including Beach and Howe Estate Agents in Westborough, which later became RE/MAX, and Finance Secured Consultancy.

Jonathan Sandiford, prosecuting, said the companies failed to bring in substantial income and most were later liquidated.

Mr Sandiford said: “Despite the lack of success of any of the business ventures, he lived a lifestyle that was way beyond his means.”

He said that Howe, a keen gambler, owned two houses in the Driffield area, bought cars and motorbikes and took regular holidays to Spain.

His alleged victims include his former mother-in-law and a couple in their seventies, Thomas and Dorothy Verity, who had to sell their home to pay off a mortgage with Northern Rock that they knew nothing about. It is claimed that Howe forged letters to take out the loan and kept the money. The couple said they had also given Howe nearly £270,000 to invest.

Thomas Verity wept in court as he said: “I have worked hard all my life for 60 years and that man has taken it all.”

The trial is expected to last two weeks.