Neck injuries on drowned wife could have been caused by a hand, court hears

Injuries found on a woman her husband was accused of drowning to claim £3.5m in life insurance could have been caused by a hand or arm around her neck, a court heard.

Paula Leeson, 47, was found to have 13 separate injuries on her head and body after she drowned while on holiday with her husband, Donald McPherson.

The 50-year-old convicted fraudster, who had taken out £3.5m in secret life insurance policies on his wife, was accused of her murder in 2017 and went on trial, but was found not guilty in 2021 on a judge’s direction due to insufficient evidence.

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While cleared of murder, Ms Leeson’s family have brought legal proceedings against McPherson at Manchester Civil Courts of Justice, asking a judge to rule he unlawfully killed her by drowning in a swimming pool on holiday in Denmark, so he forfeits any legal entitlement to benefiting from the life insurance policies or his late wife’s will and estate, worth £4.4 million.

McPherson is not present or legally represented at the hearing and is believed to be living somewhere in the south Pacific. They lived in Sale, Trafford.

Ms Leeson’s elderly father, Willy Leeson, wept as the Danish pathologist who carried out the post-mortem examination on his daughter answered questions from Lesley Anderson KC, representing the family. Danish police initially wrongly told Professor Peter Leth that Ms Leeson was a non-swimmer. He said if Ms Leeson could not swim it would have “enhanced” her chances of drowning but if she could swim, it would have reduced them.

Ms Anderson also said the depth of the pool was not 180cm as police had initially reported to him but in fact