Millionaire was 'compos mentis' when he cut children out of will

A millionaire tyre tycoon and racehorse owner was ‘compos mentis’ when he handed most of his will to two of his four children, a court was told.

Reg Bond, 77, died in March 2021, and his doctor has said he was in full control of his mind when he signed away most of his fortune to only two of his children.

Siblings Graham, 51, Charlie, 43, received nearly all of the remaining £12.3m after Mr Bond gave away most of his fortune.

But Mike, 52, and Lindsay, 55, – who were left with £325,000 each – are contesting the will and claim he was too ill to understand what he was signing.

A millionaire tyre tycoon and racehorse owner Reg Bond (pictured) was ‘compos mentis’ when he handed most of his will to two of his four children, a court was told

Mr Bond, 77, died in March 2021, and his doctor has said he was in full control of his mind when he signed away most of his fortune to only two of his children

Dr Mohammad Khan, Mr Bond’s personal doctor, told the High Court he was was ‘compos mentis’ in the months and years preceding his death.

Dr Khan said that he checked Mr Bond’s cognition after he suffered a suspected stroke.

He told Penelope Reed KC, representing Mike and Lindsay: ‘He had made a very good recovery post-treatment and at that point in time he wanted to know whether he was fit enough to make decisions on his board.’

Ms Reed asked him: ‘How did you know he was fit enough to run his business?’

Dr Khan replied: ‘I checked his cognition.

‘That assessment led me to the conclusion that he was compos mentis.’

‘He had a very good memory and was fit and well for all purposes, including running his own business and making decisions.’

Ms Reed countered: ‘You weren’t carrying out any assessment, were you, about his capacity to make a will?’

Dr Khan said: ‘I only assessed his capacity to make decisions, and he never asked me for any formal paperwork or formal test regarding any specific decision.

‘The test I would apply would assess his capacity to make a decision – that decision could be a business decision, a family decision, a personal decision or a decision about his will.

Mike Bond (pictured) and Lindsay are fighting their two younger brothers in the High Court

‘The whole will-making issue was quite a bit of a concern.’

Rita Da Silva, the family’s long-term cleaner and Mr Bond’s primary care manager, told the High Court that working for the feuding siblings was like ‘treading on egg shells’.

‘You are so worried that you want to keep this party happy and that party happy,’ she said

‘It was my job and yes I was very intimidated at times, that is why I would describe myself as treading on egg shells.’

Mrs Da Silva added that Mr Bond retained his vitality to the end.

She said he was ‘very passionate about his food, he liked things like burgers and fish-and-chips and ice cream.’

In response to Ms Reed’s assertion that Mr Bond suffered from ‘periods of confusion’, Mrs Da Silva replied: ‘Reg was complex at times’. If I had any doubts I would contact Dr Khan and from there the whole family would be informed, and this is how I dealt with it.

‘I learnt a lot through him, he was a very private person – he would not discuss into details certain things but he certainly was a very bright man, very bright.

‘He would not miss a trick’.

During Mrs Da Silva’s evidence, the court was shown a video of a meeting during which Mr Bond was seen being read the terms of his powers of attorney.

Charlie was heard telling his father: ‘I’ll give you your own bank account and you can go off and do whatever you want’.

Regarding the video, Ms Reed put it to Mrs Da Silva that Mr Bond ‘doesn’t seem very engaged’.

Mrs Da Silva responded: ‘Obviously you don’t know Mr Reg Bond, you think he’s ignoring you but he’s not. He’s there, he’s engaged’.

Ms Reed asked her: ‘Did you understand what was going on?’

Mrs Da Silva replied: ‘To my understanding they were having a meeting and that was it.’

Charlie Bond and his wife Katie Atkinson-Bond, who has been dragged into the sibling battle

The High Court also heard about a controversial ‘chaperone’ rule in which members of the family could only speak to Reg in the company of one his carers.

Mrs Da Silva said: ‘Every time he had visitors it appeared to me he would be upset and it was always something triggering, it was the best of interest really just to stop.

‘It was to prevent the stress that Reg was under, nothing else.’

Ms Reed asked: ‘Are there any instances of you reporting to Lindsay and Mike that Charlie and Greg were spending time with Reg?’

Mrs Da Silva said: ‘When he was with Charlie I never had to report it because it was a leisure thing.’

Mike and Lindsay Bond claim their father ‘lacked testamentary capacity’ when he made his last will in November 2019, highlighting the fact he had been suffering from a brain tumour since 2010.

They want the court to overrule the 2019 will and reinstate the previous will from 2017, also alleging that his last will is ‘invalid for want of knowledge and approval’.

Ms Reed earlier told the court that as well as the brain tumour, Reg suffered from a fall in his garden in 2014 which led to pneumonia and other serious complications, leaving him needing ‘full-time care’.

She said Reg was ‘vulnerable and reliant on his carers’.

But Clare Stanley, acting for Charlie and Graham, told the judge Mr Bond’s health was improving at the time before the will was signed and he was able drive new Bentley he had bought to visit him with their families.

He had been filmed receiving a trophy for a winning horse he had connections with and celebrating cheerfully, whilst sitting in a wheelchair.

The hearing continues.

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