The sleuth neighbours who won justice for their friend

The actions of Nigel Harvie, who took ownership of Ilse Seldon’s Summertown house in return for paying for her care, were only brought to light by her neighbours.

Following a four-year battle, Mr Harvie admitted breaching the professional conduct of solicitors at a Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal earlier this year. He conceded he had entered into a financial agreement without advising Mrs Seldon to take independent advice.

Mr Harvie, who was based in Summertown, denied using his position to take unfair advantage of Mrs Seldon but the SDT upheld the allegation.

The tribunal’s judgment read: “A senior solicitor took unfair advantage of a vulnerable and very elderly lady and effectively deprived her estate of her house for a knockdown price.

“The general public would be horrified by what had occurred.”

It concluded: “It would cause considerable harm to the reputation of the profession, and that should be marked by the imposition of a substantial fine.”

The solicitor, who stopped practicing in 2011, has not faced criminal proceedings and has a year to pay the fine.

His activities were only discovered when two neighbours became concerned Mrs Seldon’s wishes were not being carried out after her death in 2010.

The former language school teacher at The Academy in Bardwell Road left no family behind when she died aged 90. She wanted to set up a charitable trust for students of German and Spanish which has still not been done.

Delia Twamley, along with Annette Bygott, both from Summertown, first noticed something was wrong when they heard Mr Harvie make a passing comment about the future of Mrs Seldon’s house shortly after her death.

Mrs Bygott said: “Mr Harvie was asked what would happen to the house and he said it would be staying in the family.

“I knew she had no family, she was an only child as was her husband Archie who died in 1985.

Without that sentence I don’t think anyone would have ever known.” In 2011, the pair began to collate masses of information surrounding the case and wrote to the Solicitor’s Regulation Authority.

Its investigation revealed how a financial agreement, set up in 2005, saw Mr Harvie pay for the pensioner’s care costs on a monthly basis in exchange for a fraction of her house – valued at £300,000.

Over the next five years the solicitor paid in the region of £200,000 for Mrs Seldon’s care. In 2012, the Land Registry valued the house at £800,000.

According to the tribunal judgment, the property’s title was transferred to a charity dealing with assisted housing called Extra Care, of which Mr Harvie is a director – and is up for sale.

Delia Twamley said: “It’s taken us four years and we were quite alone in our struggle.

“We won but we have not actually won – the charity she and her husband Archie wanted has still not been set up.”

Her will revealed she wanted a charitable trust to be set up for those studying German or Spanish at university.

Her husband’s will echoed her wishes and detailed plans for scholarships to be awarded to state-educated children to help them get into Oxford University. The two neighbours shared differing opinions when it comes to the actions of Mr Harvie.

Mrs Twamley said: “She suffered from dementia in her later life and we wondered whether she was compos mentis when she signed off parts of her house to Harvie. “I despise him, he has done something despicable. She was the ideal candidate – elderly, alone and vulnerable.”

Mrs Bygott, who first met Ilse Seldon when she moved to Oxford from Berlin in the 1980s, said she didn’t share Mrs Twamley’s view. She said: “He did look after her during her life and facilitated her living in her own home until she died which she wanted.

“He was meticulous in fulfilling all the other details of the will except the charity. There’s still time and it would be wonderful if he came forward to set up the charity she and Archie so wished for.”

Mrs Seldon, nee Krahe, was born in Germany in 1920 and met her Archie Seldon at the end of the Second World War. The couple moved to Oxford in 1982 – Archie worked for the Taylorian Institution and Ilse worked as a language teacher.

Mrs Bygott said: “They were wonderful people and Ilse was particularly caring to those from a poor background. She was so compassionate and helpful.” Mr Harvie has also been criticised by the legal profession after the tribunal took a very serious view of its findings.

Head of Civil Litigation at Oxford law firm Turpin and Miller, John McNulty said: “The facts in this case are truly shocking. “The solicitor failed to carry out his elderly client’s wishes and abused his position of trust. The level of fine clearly reflects this and it is vital that the public’s trust in the legal profession is maintained.” Mr Harvie declined to comment.