Latest news with #RolfHarris
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Daily Mail
Late TV paedophile Rolf Harris's mansion remains unsold months after going on sale for £4m - as estate agent says it's 'overpriced'
Disgraced TV star Rolf Harris ' mansion remains unsold more than two months after it went on sale for £4million, with an estate agent branding it as 'overpriced'. The luxury riverside property based in the picturesque village of Bray, Berkshire, was listed on the market in late April. It served as Harris' final residence until he died from neck cancer in May 2023 at the age of 93, with the mansion modelled on his childhood home along Perth 's Swan River. But now, local estate agent Brian Warren has told The Mirror that he believed the property was originally worth £2million, rather than £4million, adding that it was 'not cost effective' to list the mansion at such a high price. He said: 'Given the cost of renovation, it's just not cost effective if you have to pay £4million for the property. They're looking at paying another £1.5million on top of the price to rebuild it because its on the river.' Describing the riverside home as 'a mess', he also remarked that no individual looking to buy at that price would have any desire to live in the home due to the 'stigma' it carries. In 2016, just one year before Harris was released from prison, his riverside home was pictured receiving a makeover from builders, with thousands of pounds spent on renovating the mansion in preparation for his return. Now, the Thames side mansion that Harris retreated in prior to his death is struggling to sell. While there have been some viewings, no deals have been agreed, the Mirror reported. In 2014, Harris was jailed for five years and nine months after being convicted at Southwark Crown Court of 12 indecent assault which took place between 1968 and 1986. A trial exposed an avalanche of evidence showing his disturbing behaviour towards women and girls, including abusing a close friend of his daughter, Bindi Nicholls, over the course of 16 years as well as an eight-year-old girl seeking an autograph and two girls in their early teens. He was released on parole in May 2017 after serving three years behind bars. Of the 12 convictions, one was overturned on appeal in November 2017, and a jury chose not to convict him in two additional cases in the same year. In May, MailOnline revealed that Harris' widow Alwen, who died in August 2024, left a fortune of just under £4million to their daughter Ava Reeves, who used to be known as Bindi Harris. In Harris' will, dated in 2018 before he died, the disgraced entertainer was shown to have left £3,840,532 to his daughter. The amount appears to confirm suspicions that the disgraced former children's entertainer 'shielded' his fortune to avoid legal claims from his victims, even after his death. Initially after his death, it was said that Harris had left a £16million fortune that he amassed during his successful career to his wife Alwen Hughes and daughter Bindi, 60. However, probate documents seen by the Sun show that his assets were said to be worth just £438,802 when he died. And the net value of his estate was £0 when expenses were taken out. Ex-detective Mark Williams-Thomas, who played a role in convicting the disgraced performer, said at the time: 'This is yet another disgrace. 'He has obviously planned to get rid of money and assets and there is no way he'd have actually been penniless,' he said. 'He had amassed a huge amount of wealth and I would assume he has squirreled it away to avoid victims making claims on it, even after his death. 'The man had no shame.' The will contains a codicil, or revision, which was made in March 2022, leaving Ava as the sole family executor of the will and removing Rolf Harris's sister Jennifer Harris as a co-executor with Ava. Ava stood by her father along with Alwen, while he was on trial for sexual of underage girls in 2014, even though one of Harris's victims was a close childhood friend. In April, Ava was seen emptying the property. At the time, a source told the Mirror: 'She wants to sell it, but she doesn't desperately need the money and is in no rush, so she's determined to hold out for a good price.' She reportedly changed her name to Ava in order to get away from the legacy of her father's name and to build her own career as an artist. It also comes as Harris' personal firm, RHE Investments, is set to be officially closed by liquidators on July 25 - giving his family a £1.2million pay day and lumping HMRC with a £122k refund bill. The disgraced TV star set up RHE Investments to handle a substantial part of his multi-million fortune in 2012. The wind up process of the company began five months after he died in May 2023 and now that it's being dissolved it means a nice lump sum for his niece, Jennifer Harris, who lives in Australia. His niece stood by him when he faced indecent assault charges, and she moved to close the company and signed the Declaration of Solvency from Sydney. She also attended numerous court hearings with Harris and is a director of two of his companies. The final report was filed on April 25, with around £1.2million going to Jennifer after paying liquidator and accountant fees of £9k. But the company was also due a refund for £127,474 from HMRC. Harris, once a much-loved presenter, rose to fame in his early 20's when he moved to England, became an art student and found work in television at the BBC, performing a regular ten-minute cartoon drawing section in a children's show - Jigsaw. He went on to illustrate Harbin's Paper Magic program in 1956 and quickly became a regular on other BBC television shows. Harris moved back to Australia in 1959 and tried his hand as an actor, before inventing the wobbleboard - and used it in his song 'Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport'. Known for a string of children's TV hits, Harris also painted the 80th birthday portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth II. He was the face of British Paints for more than three decades before he was dumped by the brand when he was arrested in 2013. The disgraced paedophile was brought to justice in 2014, in one of the prosecutions brought by the Metropolitan Police's Operation Yewtree - an investigation into historical behaviour by celebrities. Sentencing, Mr Justice Sweeney said Harris, 84, had taken advantage of his celebrity status and had shown 'no remorse'. One victim said the abuse had taken away her 'childhood innocence'. In 2022, it was understood that Harris' health began to take a turn for the worse after the sudden death of his poodle. He had been struggling to talk after cancerous tumours grew in his neck after he was freed from jail and was being fed through a tube before his death. The former TV entertainer's death certificate revealed that he died of 'metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of neck' – the medical term for neck cancer – and 'frailty of old age'.
The Sun
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Disgraced star's £4million riverside mansion fails to attract buyer due to ‘stigma' of former owner
DISGRACED paedophile Rolf Harris' riverside mansion has failed to attract a buyer despite being on the market for months. Buyers are allegedly being put off the £4million property, located on the banks of the River Thames in Bray, Berkshire, because of the "stigma" of its notorious former owner. 3 The Australian TV personality, musician and artist was jailed for five years and nine months in July 2014. Bindi, 61, Harris' only child, inherited the property in Bray, Berkshire along with the majority of his £16 million estate. Mayfair-based estate agents Benson International has had it up for sale since April this year. The move marked almost two years since the disgraced star died of neck cancer in the house aged 93. Harris was found guilty of a dozen indecent assaults against four young girls. Some of his heinous crimes even took place inside his house, between 1968 and 1986. He has also been accused of sexually assaulting one of his daughters friends, who was between 13 and 19 at the time. The disgraced star performed sex acts on her while his daughter slept in another room, it is believed. Speaking to the Mirror, Brian Warren, who previously valued the mansion, explained that the cost was also putting off potential buyers. He said: "We actually looked at it and others on the same row. I originally said it was worth £2million. "No one buying at that price would want to live in it because of the stigma. "And it is a mess with all add-on extensions that Rolf Harris put on over the years. "So they're looking at paying another £1.5million on top of that to rebuild it because it's on the river, which is more expensive. "Given the cost of renovation, it's just not cost effective if you have to pay £4million for the property." Harris lived in the Riverside mansion for over six decades after rising to fame in his early 20s when he began performing a regular ten-minute cartoon drawing section in children's show Jigsaw. Alwen, his wife, had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease and died in August last year. She constantly supported her husband during his court case, along with Bindi, with the pair regularly spotted holding his hand on the way into court. The house was designed in line with his childhood house on the banks of the Swan River in Perth, Western Australia. It was in his childhood home he learned to swim before becoming a national junior backstroke champion aged 15. It was renovated ahead of his release from jail in 2017, with workmen seen replacing a large patio at a cost of more than £10,000. The front drive, which is overlooked by a horse head, was also dug up and the back garden revamped. Sellers Benson International describe themselves as a 'premium property specialist operating in the heart of London". Their website adds: 'We are a private office who have worked alongside clients with discretion for many years.' 3 3
Wales Online
21-05-2025
- Wales Online
Rolf Harris's widow Alwen Hughes left £4million in her will
Rolf Harris's widow Alwen Hughes left £4million in her will The sculptor died a year after her husband Rolf Harris and wife Alwen Hughes The widow of disgraced TV star, Rolf Harris, left nearly £4million in her will, documents show. Alwen Hughes died aged 92 last August, one year after the jailed entertainer's death. The Welsh sculptress and jeweller married Harris in 1958 and stayed with him after he was convicted of indecent assault on young girls. Harris died aged 93 in May 2023. Hughes, of Maidenhead, Berkshire, died from a stroke after suffering from vascular dementia. Now documents show her estate was worth £3,975,950, reduced to a net value of £3,840,532 after deductions. It was left to the administration of Ian John Sydenham of Manchester-based law firm DWF. Her complex will dated July 2018, before Rolf Harris' death, shows she had included him in it. It also revealed that after his death their daughter, Ava Reeves, became the main beneficiary. The sculptress and jeweller married Harris in 1958 and remained with her husband after he was convicted of indecent assault on young girls. Harris died aged 93 on May 10 2023 of neck cancer and 'frailty of old age', according to his death certificate. Article continues below Fifteen months after his death, Hughes died on August 15, 2024, from a stroke after suffering with the fragility of old age and vascular dementia, according to a death certificate obtained by The Mirror. The Windsor and Maidenhead Register Office confirmed her death was registered with them. Harris was 84 when a jury at Southwark Crown Court unanimously found him guilty of 12 counts of indecent assault involving victims as young as seven or eight, in July 2014. He was sentenced to five years and nine months. In May 2017 Harris was released on licence. In the same month he was formally cleared of four unconnected historical sex offences, which he had denied. Article continues below Later that year, one of the 12 indecent assault convictions was overturned by the Court of Appeal. He was one of the most popular and talented entertainers of his generation until he was exposed as a paedophile and serial sexual predator. More distant relations were also included in Hughes's will. In 2023, it was reported Ava had changed her name in a bid to cut ties with the disgraced entertainer's legacy. The now 61-year-old, who formerly went by the name Bindi Harris, became Ava Reeves. She is the couple's only child. A source close to the family said she had changed her name to be taken seriously in the art world.
Perth Now
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Widow of sex fiend Rolf Harris' jaw-dropping will
Rolf Harris' widow, who stood by the disgraced entertainer after he was exposed as a serial sex offender, left a huge sum of money in her will, it has been revealed. Alwen Hughes died in August aged 92 — just over a year after the disgraced entertainer died of neck cancer and 'frailty of old age', according to his death certificate. Hughes, a Welsh sculptress and jeweller who married Harris in 1958 and remained with him after he was convicted of indecent assault on young girls, died of a stroke after suffering vascular dementia.. Her will — written in 2018, after Harris' fall from grace — included provision for him to have a slice of her whopping $8.2 million estate, should she have died first, according to The Sun. Given Harris died first, the bulk of the estate now goes to their daughter Ava Reeves, formerly known as Bindi, with other relatives also set to benefit. Harris himself left a substantial estate behind, totalling $33 million, most of which was also left to Reeves. Rolf Harris and Alwen Hughes with daughter Bindi. Credit: JOHN CAMPBELL / WA News Perth-born Harris had a glittering international career across music, art and television and was considered a national treasure before it all came crashing down amid revelations he was a serial sexual abuser. Harris was famous for songs including Tie Me Kangaroo Down and Jake the Peg and was a talented artist — painting Queen Elizabeth's 80th birthday portrait. Rolf Harris officially unveils his oil portrait of Queen Elizabeth II at The Queen's Gallery in Buckingham Palace in 2005. Credit: Chris Jackson / Getty Images Rolf Harris was a serial sexual abuser. Credit: Supplied / TheWest Harris was 84 when a UK jury unanimously found him guilty of 12 counts of indecent assault involving victims as young as seven or eight, in July 2014. He was sentenced to five years and nine months. In May 2017 Harris was released from jail and in the same month was formally cleared of four unconnected historical sex offences, which he had denied. Later that year, one of the 12 indecent assault convictions was overturned by the Court of Appeal. — with AAP.
Daily Mail
20-05-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Rolf Harris's widow left staggering fortune to their daughter on her death following dementia battle aged 92 - after her paedophile husband hid his wealth to avoid paying compensation to his victims
Paedophile Rolf Harris 's widow Alwen left a fortune of just under £4 million to their daughter who stood by the children's TV star while he was exposed as a sex offender. Details of her will show Alwen Harris, who died in August last year aged 92, left £3,840,532 to Ava Reeves, who used to be known as Bindi Harris. The will dated in 2018 before Harris died, would have seen the estate go to her husband had he been alive, but the amount appears to confirm suspicions that the disgraced former children's entertainer 'shielded' his fortune to avoid legal claims from his victims, even after his death. He died in May 2023 aged 93 following a battle with neck cancer. At the time of his death, reports suggested he might leave around £16million to Alwen and daughter Bindi, 60. However, court documents released at the time of his death showed his assets to be worth £438,802. Expenses then brought that sum down to zero. It was claimed Harris purposely reduced his fortune to prevent his victims from seeking financial compensation after his death. Ex-detective Mark Williams-Thomas, who played a role in convicting the disgraced performer, said at the time: 'This is yet another disgrace. 'He has obviously planned to get rid of money and assets and there is no way he'd have actually been penniless,' he said. 'He had amassed a huge amount of wealth and I would assume he has squirreled it away to avoid victims making claims on it, even after his death. 'The man had no shame.' Ava stood by her father along with Alwen, while he was on trial for sexual of underage girls in 2014, even though one of Harris's victims was a close childhood friend. The will contains a codicil, or revision, which was made in March 2022, leaving Ava as the sole family executor of the will and removing Rolf Harris's sister Jennifer Harris as a co-executor with Ava. Harris was barely seen in public after leaving prison in 2017 retreating to his Thames-side mansion, in Bray, Berkshire, for his final years. He died after reportedly falling 'gravely sick' with neck cancer, with most of his £16 million fortune going to Ava/Bindi as well. The family home in Bray is now up for sale with a price tag of £4 million. According to the Land Registry, the owners are still listed as Rolf and Alwen Harris. Last month Ava was seen emptying the property. A source told the Mirror: 'She wants to sell it, but she doesn't desperately need the money and is in no rush, so she's determined to hold out for a good price.' She reportedly changed her name to Ava in order to get away from the legacy of her father's name and to build her own career as an artist. Harris was brought to justice in 2014, in one of the prosecutions brought by the Metropolitan Police's Operation Yewtree - an investigation into historical behaviour by celebrities. Drama surrounded each day of his first trial at Southwark Crown Court. His family attempted to put on a united front, holding hands together for the cameras as they apparently travelled to court together. But this was later labelled an elaborate show by the prosecution - it turned out his daughter Bindi was joining her father for the last few moments of the journey into court. Harris's appearance in the witness box was, in part, a reminiscence about his long career as a singer and cartoonist that was designed to entertain the jury. 'In 1959,' asked his barrister Sonia Woodley KC, 'did you invent something called the wobbleboard?' Harris said he had done. He went on to sing a few lines of his 1965 hit Jake the Peg. But such semi-comic moments could not diminish the compelling testimony of women who had got to know Rolf Harris when they were young. His main victim had known Harris and Bindi well from childhood. The court heard that Bindi's friend was first abused by Rolf Harris on a holiday to Hawaii, when she was 13. Over time, he groomed her and repeatedly abused her until she was in her mid-20s. '[His victim] had been totally controlled by Rolf Harris,' prosecutor Sasha Wass, KC, told the court. 'He knew that he could have access to her intimately whether there were people around or not.' By the time she was 29, she had developed a drink problem, which she blamed on Harris's abuse. At this point the woman told her family what he had done to her. The family's furious reaction culminated in a visit by Harris to the woman's village in the English countryside. 'She said she was disgusted by what he had done,' Wass said, 'and she hit him about the head.' The woman then made him walk around the village, knowing he would be recognisable in public. Wass said: 'She continued to berate him, not caring about the embarrassment.' In court, Harris's defence case was that the abuse she said took place when she was under age had never happened, and that sex between them took place later and was consensual. After the confrontation in the village Harris never spoke to the woman again, but wrote a pleading letter to her father: 'I would like to talk to you to apologise for betraying your trust and for unwittingly so harming your darling [daughter]. I know that what I did was wrong but we are, all of us, fallible and oh how I deluded myself. Please forgive me, love Rolf.' Others knew Harris only fleetingly. Four women were named on the charge sheet. His conviction for the indecent assault of one of them was overturned on appeal. More women gave evidence about his character. There was a family friend who said Harris had told her in 1969, when she was 12: 'Come here, I want to be the first one to give you a tongue kiss,' and did so, terrifying her. A dancer from New Zealand said Harris had groped her as a 17-year-old in 1970; a holidaymaker said Harris took her to the back room of a Maltese bar the same year and assaulted her. A production worker on an Australian TV show of Harris's, Tony Porter, flew to London to tell the trial about the time he saw the entertainer grope a make-up artist. As he did so he 'made a lascivious noise with his mouth', said Porter. One woman fought back tears as she recounted the story of how she suffered sexual assault at the hands of Harris when she was aged 14 and in London on a theatre trip in 1986. Harris was jailed for nearly six years for 12 indecent assaults against four girls - including one aged just seven or eight. Sentencing Mr Justice Sweeney said Harris, 84, had taken advantage of his celebrity status and had shown 'no remorse'. One victim said the abuse had taken away her 'childhood innocence'.
