A GREEDY company director's failure to remember how his brother's name was spelt has seen him jailed for forging his mother's will.

Scheming businessman Stewart Caygill plundered his mother Theresa's bank account before her death - then made himself the main beneficiary of her estate after she died so he would get a greater share of her home.

The Northern Echo: PLOT: Stewart Caygill, who has been jailed for forging his mother's will

PLOT: Stewart Caygill, who has been jailed for forging his mother's will

Caygill, 53, who once charged his ageing mother £4,000 for mowing the lawn at her home in Horden, near Peterlee, went to extraordinary lengths during two trials to avoid justice, but didn't count on his brother, Philip, turning amateur detective to expose him, travelling across the country in his investigation.

His brother, a businessman with interests in property and construction, immediately realised the will was bogus because the signature looked nothing like his mother's, and his name featured an extra 'l' on the document.

Last night, Philip Caygill, a property and construction businessman, said: "My mum was PA at a big company and would never allow a letter to leave the office without the i's being dotted and the t's being crossed.

"There is no way on earth she would have got the spelling of my name wrong. She was meticulous – a proper stickler for things being done in the right way."

Jailing Caygill, of Yohden Crescent, Peterlee, for four years for forgery and using a false instrument, Judge Deborah Sherwin told him: "I am left with the feeling I am unable to believe a word you say about anything, and you are scheming, devious, deceitful and opportunistic."

Caygill had produced fake text messages - said to have been sent by his brother - and disputed he had a criminal record during his trial last month.

But Philip tracked down the co-defendant from the 1988 theft case - who he tracked down in Berkshire - and the jury was tech-savvy enough to disbelieve the texts.

Philip also produced personal letters from his mother to show her handwriting, and an expert also dismissed the signature on the fake will.

The 54-year-old said: "My mum told me he was stealing from her for years beforehand, but he threatened to stop cutting the grass and her seeing his daughter.

"At her age, she could not face all the trouble and told me not to do anything about it, she couldn't hack it. He took her china and jewellery, too.

"The fake will made no mention of the grandchildren, not to mention the various charities she supported. She loved her dogs and if there was a genuine will they would have come before anything else."

Mrs Caygill, who was 84 when she died in December 2013, had been left half the house in her husband William's will, while her sons got a quarter each.

The forged document handed the grandmother's share to Caygill along with his own, and her jewellery to his wife, Nikola - who was questioned but freed without charge.

Philip says his brother sneered at him until the court case, initially believing police would treat it as a family feud.

But as he dug up more evidence, and PC Paul Harbisher was put onto the investigation, Caygill's lies began to unravel.

To try to halt Philip's inquiries, he forged documents purporting to be Durham Police intelligence notes to pretend he was an informant.

They were sent to companies Philip worked for in a bid to destroy his business, and to two others in an attempt to have him harmed.

Poisoned meat was also thrown over the gate at Philip's home, and he was snubbed by people in the community who believed Caygill's lies.

Philip and his partner had bought a piece of land in Peterlee to build a bungalow, but the intimidation campaign forced her to flee the area and the plot still stands empty. Philip said: "That's just one of the results of all of this - and for what? A couple of grand.

"During the trial, his barrister said this was sport for me and I was enjoying seeing my brother squirm. Nothing could be further from the truth. I was there as the only one able to represent my mum."

William Byrne, mitigating, said Caygill - a director of Peterlee Landscaping - said the forgery had been "a major moment of madness".