Mr Irwin was Alf Roberts's solicitor and read his will after his death in January 1999. Present were Audrey Roberts and Gail Platt who heard that Alf had left £2,000 each to his grandchildren which would be held in trust until each was eighteen years of age. He then showed her a tally of the remainder which, after his own expenses of £208 were deducted, came to just £1,427.13 in cash, plus the house and the salon, the original purchase of the latter having made large inroads into Alf's funds. Audrey was disappointed, expecting far more, and she worried how she would cope financially in the future. Mr. Irwin was sympathetic but told her his job was just to execute the will and it was up to her to work out how to live on the proceeds from there on in.