Mr Emery was an insurance agent for the Industrial and General Insurance Company who called at Arnold Swain's pet shop in December 1980 wanting a signature off him. He was away from the shop and Emily Swain dealt with him. Mr Emery told her that Mrs Margaret Swain of Worthing wanted to surrender a policy but as Arnold was the legal owner of it his agreement was required. Emily thought Mr Emery meant Arnold's mother but her world was rocked when Mr Emery confirmed that the policy was for Arnold's living wife. This meant that she had married a bigamist. Mr Emery noticed Emily's distracted state and thought that she was just confused over what he had said and repeated the matter for her.