A MAN who was given power of attorney over the estate of the late art collector Gordon Lambert has denied fabricating claims about actions of Mr Lambert’s family towards the deceased.
Anthony Lyons (75), a former RTÉ press officer, of Churchtown, Dublin, was giving evidence on the tenth day of a hearing before Mr Justice Roderick Murphy in which members of the Lambert family are challenging a will made by Mr Lambert.
Cross-examined by James Gilhooly SC, for the plaintiffs, Mr Lyons referred to Gordon Lambert being hospitalised in 2002 and said Mr Lambert was dragged to hospital from his home protesting. When counsel suggested the claim Mr Lambert was afraid of his family was surely a very irrational concern, Mr Lyons said it was Mr Lambert’s concern. Mr Gilhooly said Mr Lambert was in hospital for 11 weeks and suggested it could have been necessary for Mr Lambert to be in hospital. Mr Lyons said a GP and a specialist did not suggest it. Mr Lambert had fallen and couldn’t get up but this did not justify an 82-year-old man being taken from his home shouting: “Where is Tony?” as he was being pulled out the door, he said. Mr Lyons said he had not pressed for power of attorney until Mr Lambert was hospitalised.
Mr Lambert was hallucinating from time to time but he didn’t believe Mr Lambert had signs of dementia. Mr Lyons also denied a suggestion by Mr Gilhooly that nobody from the Lambert family ever considered sending Mr Lambert to St John of God Hospital, Stillorgan, and he, Mr Lyons, had fabricated that suggestion. The case has been brought by Mr Lambert’s niece, June Lambert, Pembroke Lane, Dublin, and her cousin Mark Lambert, Rathdown Park, Greystones, Co Wicklow.
They want to strike down a will made in 2003 and a condition disqualifying any beneficiary who challenges it. It is also alleged Mr Lyons, a friend of Mr Lambert, exercised undue influence on him, a claim which Mr Lyons denies.
The action is against Mr Lyons,Churchtown, Dublin; Olive Beaumont, Heytesbury Lane, Ballsbridge, Dublin, who was a trustee of the Gordon Lambert collection and a senior curator at the Irish Museum of Modern Art; and Catherine Marshall, of Kevin Street, Dublin. They deny the claims.
The hearing continues today.