A JURY was today deciding whether a twice-married man deliberately lied about his finances to a county court during his first divorce.

For more than a week, York Crown Court has heard allegations that Graham Shipley, formerly of Ampleforth, concealed a £150,000 hand-out from his boss, Frank Cosgrove, in the early 1990s.

At the time, Lincoln County Court was settling financial arrangements between him and his first wife, Susan, following their divorce. The jury has heard that Mrs Shipley received £100 maintenance for herself and their youngest child, and that Graham Shipley later applied to have maintenance stopped on the grounds that he could not afford it.

The prosecution alleges that Graham Shipley's second wife, Jennifer, now of Strensall, told police about the money when he was divorcing her in 1999, and received a letter from Mr Cosgrove asking for the money to be repaid.

Graham Shipley, 57, now of Mullinaclry, County Monaghan, Eire, denies two charges of perjury relating to affidavits he swore to Lincoln County Court in the early 1990s.

The prosecution alleges that the money was a gift, that Graham and Jennifer Shipley moved the money from account to account to conceal it from Susan Shipley, and that Graham Shipley should have declared the money in his affidavits, but did not.

Graham Shipley claimed that he did not have to declare it because it was a loan, repayable on demand.

Mr Cosgrove, formerly of Grove Turkey Farm, County Monaghan, alleged he lent it to Graham Shipley as a thank you for supporting his business.

The jury heard that Jennifer and Graham Shipley were living in Ampleforth when their marriage broke down in 1999. Jennifer Shipley has since moved to Strensall to live with a near-neighbour from Ampleforth with whom she had an affair in 1999.

Updated: 13:41 Wednesday, January 22, 2003