Chief Constable awards given for obtaining murder conviction for deliberate starvation – Oxfordshire

On Wednesday (1/5), officers, staff and others who helped convict a woman who deliberately starved a man to death to inherit his wealth were rewarded with commendations by Chief Constable Jason Hogg.

On 1 June 2021, Lynda Rickard, aged 62, formerly of Edinburgh Close, Banbury, was sentenced to life with a minimum of 28 years after she was convicted of the murder of James Anthony Sootheran, known as Anthony, in South Newington, near Banbury.

Her husband, 66-year-old Wayne Rickard, of the same address, was found guilty of causing/allowing the death of a vulnerable adult, and was jailed for 10 years and six months. He was cleared of murder.

Lynda Rickard killed Anthony by starving him to death so that she, and others, could benefit from his estate. She also defrauded him while he was alive, and defrauded Joy Sootheran, who was Anthony’s mother.

The conviction and sentence was the culmination of four years of investigation by officers and staff from Thames Valley Police’s Major Crime Unit (MCU), with support from the Economic Crime Unit. A chartered accountant who was seconded to the force to assist the investigation with expertise supported these teams, and key roles were played by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) reviewing lawyer and the junior prosecuting counsel.

This was a vastly complex case, which saw over 20,000 pages of evidence served, with that evidence spanning a timeframe of over 20 years, with witnesses scattered around the country.

The investigation, which was given the operation name Navigator, could not rely on CCTV or phone messages as that sort of evidence was just not available. It required detailed handwriting analysis and forensic interrogation of financial accounts and medical records in order to find the evidence that Lynda Rickard had defrauded and forged the wills of the Sootherans and then also deliberately starved Anthony Sootheran to death.

Chief Constable’s Commendations were given to:

• Senior investigating officer Detective Superintendent Andy Howard
• Case investigator Rebecca Wingrove-North
• Disclosure officer Andy Nicklin
• Intelligence analyst Portia Butterfield
• Holmes Manager Kevin McGuire
• MCU Holmes team member Wendy Wheeler
• Chartered accountant Louise Church (seconded to TVP to provide expert knowledge.
• CPS reviewing lawyer Robbie Weber
• A posthumous commendation was also given to MCU Holmes supervisor Lorraine White, who sadly died after the investigation had concluded.
• Commendations were also given to one other TVP staff member who managed Holmes activity for the case, and one was also given to the Junior Prosecuting Counsel. 
• A higher Chief Constable’s commendation was also given to a Detective Constable who was the officer in the case, and who undertook the majority of the enquiries during the four years that the investigation was running. Her role in bringing justice to the family of Anthony and Joy Sootheran was absolutely crucial.  

Disclosure officer Andy said: “I am pleased to have played a part in this complex and historic investigation, to ensure justice was done.”

Mr Weber, said: “I am truly grateful and honoured to receive a commendation together with the first class investigative team that delivered justice in this exceptional case.”

CPS reviewing lawyer Robbie Weber

Wendy, said: “I'm so pleased we were able to have achieved justice for Anthony's family. Thank you for this award.”

MCU Holmes team member Wendy Wheeler

Chartered accountant Ms Church said: “I feel very humble as an accountant getting such an award as officers put their lives at risk on a daily basis and I do not. Fraud is unfortunately seen and prioritised as a low risk crime. Operation Navigator shows one of the more darker sides of fraud which are more often not seen or recognised.”

Chartered Accountant Louise Church

Detective Superintendent Howard said: “I am pleased to have been awarded with this commendation, however in reality the award is a testament to the team who worked on this investigation.

Detective Superintendent Andy Howard

“The hours of painstaking work they put in over a four period, to gather evidence, support the victims’ loved ones, and to put this case before the courts so that we could achieve justice for the family of Anthony and Joy Sootheran, is truly remarkable.

“In particular, the work of the Detective Constable who was the officer in the case was truly exemplary and is one of the finest examples of detective work I have seen in almost 25 years as a police officer.

“We also would not have been able to achieve this result without the support of the Crown Prosecution Service and legal counsel in the case.”

“This was a very disturbing, wicked case where a man was starved to death simply for greed.

“My thoughts remain with the family of Anthony and Joy Sootheran and I would again thank them for the trust they showed in the investigation team.”

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GFL

Other images of winners

Case investigator Rebecca Wingrove-North

Intelligence analyst Portia Butterfield

Holmes Manager Kevin McGuire

Notes to Editors

Not all those awarded have provided consent to be named. 

We have also uploaded all the images we are able to release. Please Credit Thames Valley Police.