Lambert family not to be let into home, court told

A HOUSEKEEPER for the late Gordon Lambert has told the High Court his friend Anthony Lyons instructed her not to let any members of the Lambert family into the house.

Mr Lambert was a former managing director of Jacob’s Biscuits and prominent art collector who donated 310 paintings and sculptures to the Irish Museum of Modern Art (Imma).

Relatives of Mr Lambert claim Mr Lyons exercised undue influence on him, which Mr Lyons denies.

The relatives have asked the court to strike down the will Mr Lambert made in 2003 and the condition disqualifying any beneficiary who challenged the will.

They have brought proceedings against the executors of the will.

The housekeeper, Pauline Slater, gave evidence to the court in Dundalk yesterday.

Ms Slater said she began working for Mr Lambert in 1996 and got to know him very well. They had a “great friendship”, she said.

She said Mr Lambert was “starting to get very confused” in 2002. In September of that year he was admitted to St James’s Hospital in Dublin suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

Ms Slater said Mr Lambert never told her he did not want to see people.

Joe Smyth, for the Lambert family, asked Ms Slater whether Mr Lambert had ever said he did not want to see his brother Hamilton, who was known to the family as “Ham”.

Ms Slater replied: “No, he never said that.”

Ms Slater said she “received these instructions” from Mr Lyons: “I was told nobody was to be allowed in unless it was passed by him, especially the family.”

She said: “I did hear Tony [Lyons] saying he would walk away if Gordon tried to get in touch with his family, because his family had been very rude to him and he wanted an apology from them.”

Ms Slater later said: “I did hear [Mr Lyons] say if [Mr Lambert] went against his wishes and got in contact with family he would walk away.”

Mr Lambert was “absolutely terrified about that”, she said.

“He really had a real fear about that, that he would be left on his own to die with nobody.

“He knew how ill he was so I suppose it was on his mind,” she said.

Mr Lambert’s nephew Dr Bruce Lambert also took the witness stand.

Dr Lambert is a son of Mr Lambert’s brother Hamilton, now deceased. He is a brother of Mark Lambert, one of the family members who have brought the proceedings.

Dr Lambert is not a plaintiff in the action, but yesterday said he supported it. He was asked whether his uncle had ever discussed his estate.

“Other than the art collection, no. He made it quite clear he wanted to donate his collection of art to Imma,” Dr Lambert said.

Dr Lambert said his father had told him that he had seen Gordon Lambert’s will briefly and had noticed that there was no provision for his (Hamilton’s) wife Jean. “He was very upset about that.”

Dr Lambert said he believed it was not about the money, but about the fact that she had not been acknowledged.

Dr Lambert said his father had told him he had mentioned it to Mr Lyons, not to Gordon Lambert himself.

Frank Callanan SC, for Mr Lyons, said Dr Lambert was “shying away from the simple fact your uncle had expressed a wish not to see your father or other members of your family”.

A doctor who had attended to Mr Lambert, Dr Tim Gleeson, told the court he regarded Mr Lyons as Mr Lambert’s adviser and carer.

He said Mr Lambert had “decision-making abilities”.

The court heard Dr Gleeson had written in a letter to Susan O’Connell of McCann FitzGerald Solicitors that, on questioning, Mr Lambert confirmed he was under no pressure from anybody to make any alteration to his will.