Gin Family Heir Has Conviction For Assault Quashed

The heir to a famous gin family has had a conviction for attacking his 95-year-old mother quashed by appeal court judges.

Sir Walter Gavin Gilbey, 69, has had his conviction for assault thrown out by judges who also lifted a restraining order banning him from seeing his mother.

Sir Gavin was originally found guilty by magistrates in February of throwing his mother Lady Gilbey, to the floor on August 26 last year.

But an Appeal Court Judge and two magistrates, sitting at Hove Crown Court on Friday, believed Sir Gavin’s account of events and quashed the conviction.

Sir Gavin today expressed his relief at the judges’ decision.

He said: “I would like to express my enormous relief that the Gilbey name has now been cleared.

“I want to take this opportunity to apologise for my sister’s appalling and embarrassing behaviour.

“After living through a highly stressful 15 months I am really happy that I can now resume the relationship with my loving and frail mother and continue to look after her for the rest of her life.

“I wish to publicly thank Penny, my loving partner for over 20 years, and all of my friends for their steadfast support.

“Finally I would like to thank Nigel Richardson, from Hodge Jones & Allen, and Emma Goodall, from Doughty Street Chambers, for their exemplary work in making this happen.”

Nigel Richardson, Criminal Defence Partner at Hodge Jones & Allen, which represented Sir Gavin, said: “Sir Gavin has always maintained his innocence of these spurious allegations and we are delighted that his good name has been cleared. Sir Gavin has had to endure a living nightmare for the past 15 months and I hope the quashing of his conviction allows him to move on with his life.”