Woman denies role in scamming Shropshire farmer out of £300,000

In interviews with officers read out at Shrewsbury Crown Court yesterday, Vicky Shearer said she did not assist in the draining of funds from George Davies' account

Mr Davies, from Oswestry, was persuaded to transfer the cash to an international bank account via two payments in 2008 and 2009 by a cold-caller who claimed they could help him invest in shares.

Michael Smith, Shearer's former partner, has already admitted his part in the scam and may have used a false name to entice Mr Davies to part with the cash.

The court was told that Mr Davies was identified as a potential victim in 2004 and was targeted by phone and email over a long period of time by a man who gave his name as Nick Lowe.

The jury heard that evidence was later unearthed which showed that 35-year-old Shearer, of Linwood Close in Camberwell, London, had paid for a number of flights and had travelled with Smith to Barcelona in 2009.

A hard drive recovered from Smith also revealed she had been sent Mr Davies's address in an email, Mr Potter said.

Shearer told police she was in a relationship with Smith from 2003 to 2009, but said it had become strained from 2006 and the couple had had little contact. She said she had never heard Smith use other names in business deals and told officers she was "shocked" when he called her in 2010 to say he had been arrested for fraud.

She had never seen any signs of wealth as far as Smith was concerned.

During a second interview, in which she answered almost every question by declining to comment, she said: "I am acting on advice from my solicitor; that's all I can give you."

Shearer declined in court to clarify anything from her previous interview, saying: "I am not going to on the advice of my solicitor."

The court was told that the bank account which Mr Davies had transferred his inheritance to had been opened by Karl Quinlan, who had flown to Barcelona two weeks before the money was transferred. Quinlan, of Bellwood Drive, York, later flew back there several times after the transfer was complete to drain the bank account over a period of about two months, the court heard. He is standing trial alongside Shearer and also denies fraud.

Shearer said she had only met Quinlan socially on a "few occasions" and said three calls made by him to her mobile in August 2009, after the money had been transferred, were not to speak to her.

"There is no reason Karl Quinlan would be phoning me unless he was looking for Michael Smith," Shearer said to police.

The trial continues.