Perth woman tells of meeting ex-minister’s other wife

Weeping in court, she describes how man left her thousands of pounds in debt

By Katie Dawson

Published:

THE wife of a former church minister accused of bigamy described to a jury yesterday the moment she came face-to-face with his new “wife”.

Jill Sangster, formerly Jackson, who lives in Perth, told Warwick Crown Court that she discovered her estranged husband Roderick Sangster had married Janet Pollard in 2004 when the pair met three years later.

Mrs Sangster said Ms Pollard contacted her after discovering that 58-year-old Sangster, who has connections with Aberdeen, had left her £55,000 in debt.

Mrs Sangster told the jury: “She said she was married to a Rod Sangster and was it the same one?

“I got out the wedding photographs and showed her.

“She confirmed it was him and the beach where we got married. She had been there with him.”

Sangster, who did not attend his trial yesterday, is alleged to have married Ms Pollard on July 17, 2004, while still married to Mrs Sangster, leaving them both thousands of pounds in debt.

The jury was told that Mrs Sangster, originally from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, was forced to declare herself bankrupt after discovering that he had run up a debt of £30,000.

She wept in court as she told the jury that “she didn’t realise the extent of the debt” until he left her in 2002.

The court was told that Sangster, who was once an officer in London’s Metropolitan Police and a Church of Scotland minister, looked for financially-secure, vulnerable women.

Prosecutor David Jones said: “He looked for vulnerable ladies with some degree of financial stability which gave him the opportunity to get monies from them.”

When the money ran out, he would move on to another woman, Mr Jones said.

Sangster, whose last known address was the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Trinity Street, Chester, married Mrs Sangster in Florida on August 6, 1996, after legally divorcing his first wife of 25 years, from Portlethen, Aberdeenshire, with whom he had four children.

Described in court as a “conman”, Sangster began divorce proceedings but then had a “change of heart”, the jury was told.

In 2003, he wrote a letter to Mrs Sangster telling her she would not get a divorce, the court heard.

The letter, posted in the US, was read out by Mr Jones and said: “I would have given you whatever you wanted – a divorce, cash, anything.

“Now you get nothing because you have turned down all my offers to help.

“You don’t ever get the divorce because you will not be able to reach me.”

The court was shown the couple’s marriage certificate and when asked if she had ever divorced him, Mrs Sangster replied: “No.”

Sangster later found employment at a hotel in Evesham, Worcestershire, and started internet dating where he met Ms Pollard, who was recovering from cancer.

He moved in with her in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, after telling her he had divorced Mrs Sangster, Mr Jones said.

They married at St Paul’s Church in Leamington Spa on July 17, 2004 before moving to Scotland.

Sangster is also accused of forging Ms Pollard’s signature to obtain a £10,000 loan from Northern Rock.

Sangster’s first wife, Frances Tait, also gave evidence at the trial.

Mrs Tait, from Portlethen, said the couple had married in December 1971 and had four children together.

She said they got divorced in April 1996 after Sangster left her for Jill Jackson, who later became Jill Sangster, his second wife.

Mrs Tait told the jury that Sangster would often “disappear” for weeks at a time when it was “totally unexpected”.

Sangster, whose family used to run a butcher’s business in Aberdeen, denies the charge of bigamy and the charge of forgery.

The trial, which was conducted in the defendant’s absence, was adjourned until today.