Royal dresser who killed nets £500,000 while in jail

A former royal aide who murdered her millionaire boyfriend has amassed more than £500,000 from property while in jail, the Standard can reveal.

The Duchess of York's former dresser Jane Andrews was jailed for life in 2001 for bludgeoning Tom Cressman with a cricket bat then stabbing him through the heart at his Fulham home.

Mr Cressman's family said today they are "disgusted" by the fortune and the prospect that Andrews could be freed as early as 2011.

Andrews, 40, could be moved to an open prison after her parole board hearing this summer, which would set her on the path to release.

She is earning £30,000 a year renting out her two-bedroom flat overlooking Battersea Park, which has nearly trebled in value to an estimated £600,000 over the past seven years.

Andrews was given a substantial deposit for the apartment by a previous boyfriend, shipping heir Dimitri Horne, to get her out of his life. Mr Horne said she attacked him with a pair of scissors and trashed his flat.

Mr Cressman's mother, Barbara, 80, said: "Everyone in the family feels empty without Tom. She's a dangerous woman who destroyed our lives with his murder and we're all serving life sentences for that loss. We've got no chance of parole so why should she?"

Mrs Cressman said she was "sickened" by Andrews's recent move to a more relaxed resettlement unit within Send prison near Woking, Surrey. Andrews is allowed out on walkabouts with a minder, but officials say she will go nowhere near Mrs Cressman's home in Kingston.

Mrs Cressman and her 21-year-old granddaughter have written to the parole board begging for Andrews to stay in jail forever. They emphasised how manipulative she has been. Tom's older brother Richard, 56, will put forward the family's case in person if the authorities allow an oral hearing.

Andrews attacked Mr Cressman, 39, with an 8in knife as he slept. While on the run she sent texts to the Duchess pretending to know nothing of his death. She was found after three days in a lay-by having overdosed on painkillers. She said Mr Cressman beat and sexually abused her, claims dismissed as lies by the judge.

Mrs Cressman dismissed reports Andrews had shown remorse during therapy. "She's never apologised to us as a family and we've never been told she's shown remorse," she said. "I'm not convinced counselling can change the kind of evil person she is."

Tom's father Harry died from cancer, aged 81, this month. Mrs Cressman said: "Tom's murder devastated him."