A hotelier and his sister will face a trial after denying murder of their 100-year-old mother in Buckinghamshire.
Jeremy Mogford and his sibling Sarah Pickering are accused of killing Pamela Mogford in February 2022 in the village of Bledlow Ridge, which sits between Princes Risborough and High Wycombe.
The siblings appeared at Oxford Crown Court via a video link on Thursday, July 23 and entered pleas of not guilty to charges of murder and attempted murder.
A trial, with a time estimate of four weeks, is set to start on November 9 this year.
Mogford, owner of the Old Bank Hotel in Oxford's High Street, and Pickering, of Guildford, Surrey were charged last year in connection with Pamela's death on February 15, 2022.
During the short hearing they spoke only to confirm their identity and pleas.
A statement released by Thames Valley Police last year read: "Jeremy Mogford, aged 78, of St Giles, Oxford, and Sarah Pickering, aged 71, of Back Lane, Guildford, Surrey, have each been charged with one count of murder and one count of attempted murder.
"The charges relate to the death of 100-year-old woman, Pamela Mogford, on February 15, 2022, in Bledlow Ridge, Buckinghamshire.
"Now that charges have been made, the force will not be in a position to provide any further details as proceedings are now active."
The daughter of a Wycombe insurance broker, Jake Bennett, Pamela married war hero Maj Peter Mogford in 1946 when he was decommissioned from the Army after service at Dunkirk and in North Africa, Cyprus, Italy and India.
The couple was married for 70 years until his death in 2015.
Peter Mogford had followed his parents into the hotel industry, operating hotels in High Wycombe, Egham, Windsor and Oxford.
Mrs Mogford continued living in Bledlow Ridge, her home since her marriage.
A death notice, published at the time described her as active in village life, "fun-loving’, always generating joy and laughter to many who feel privileged to have had her in their lives for so long".
Back in 2023 detectives from Thames Valley Police’s major crime team opened an investigation into the death amid suspicions that the woman may have been murdered.
At that stage police confirmed that two people had been arrested.
Police said at the time: “We are aware that this may be concerning to the public, but we can confirm there is no danger to the wider community.
“We are not in a position to provide further comment at this time as proceedings are active.”
Mrs Mogford continued living in Bledlow Ridge, her home since her marriage.
Share