The trustees of the Louise Woodward Appeal Fund yesterday unanimously rejected claims that the au pair's parents faked an invoice for over £9,000 for accommodation expenses in the US, following an emergency meeting to discuss the allegations.
Mrs Susan Woodward and her husband, Mr Gary Woodward, were accused of attempting to defraud the appeal fund by submitting a bill for living expenses incurred during Louise Wood ward's trial in Massachusetts last year for the murder of eight-month-old Matthew Eappen.
Ms Woodward's parents had been living with her former lawyer, Ms Elaine Whitfield Sharp, and her husband Dan from April to November last year. The chairman of the appeal fund, the Rev Ken Davey, said in a statement that the Woodwards had acted in "an honest and straightforward manner. The recent allegations from America, strenuously denied by Mrs Woodward, do not lead the trustees to alter this opinion."
The statement explained that the deeds of the trust fund defined the beneficiaries as Louise Wood ward, her parents and any other relatives or dependants deemed appropriate.
"Any payments therefore come within the objective for which the trust fund was established . . . the unanimous decision of the trustees was to continue to support Louise and her family," the statement added.
The claims relate to an invoice allegedly submitted to the fund by Susan Woodward for her living expenses at Ms Sharp's home in Marblehead, Massachusetts. It was believed that the Woodwards were for living at the house for free, but the invoice was uncovered last week when the Boston Globe contacted the Sharps to ask them why they had charged the Woodwards $15,400.
The Sharps have strenuously denied the claims, pointing to a mistaken area code and the incorrect spelling of their name on the invoice. They also claim that Mrs Woodward wrote a note accompanying the invoice which said "Paid from GW personal account - November 1997."
Mrs Sharp, who was sacked from Louise Woodward's legal team recently after she allegedly cast doubt on her innocence, said yesterday "this thing is like rabbit in Winnie the Pooh - they are all so many friends and relations."
Mr Sharp however, said he was not surprised by the statement. "The trustees selected by the Woodward's have expressed their confidence in the Woodwards. That should not be a great surprise. They don't deny the invoices are phoney. They don't deny that is Susan Woodward's handwriting. They don't rise to my challenge to produce the cancelled cheque.
"My message to the trustees is simple - put up or shut up. They should get into the substance of the allegations."
The Woodwards' local MP, Labour's Mr Andrew Miller, said he had "absolutely no doubts whatsoever" about the family's integrity.
"The logic of the Woodward family's argument is insurmountable,` he said. "They have absolute call on every single penny in the fund so why on earth would they want to forge anything?"