Oxford hotelier and restaurateur charged with murder

The founder of brasserie and bar chain Brown’s has been charged with murder following the death of a 100-year-old woman.

Jeremy Mogford, 78, from Oxford, has been charged alongside Sarah Pickering, 71, from Surrey, with one count of murder and one count of attempted murder.

The charges related to the death of Pamela Mogford on 15 February 2022 in Bledlow Ridge, Buckinghamshire, who was reportedly his mother.

Jeremy and Pickering appeared at Oxford Magistrates’ Court and Oxford Crown Court today (23 October) via video link and were released on court bail.

They are next due to appear at Oxford Crown Court on 13 March 2026.

Thames Valley Police said in a statement: “Now that charges have been made, the force will not be in a position to provide any further details as proceedings are now active.”

Jeremy Mogford founded Brown’s in Brighton in 1973 with John Mayhew before expanding the restaurant brand across “culturally rich” towns in the UK, such as Cambridge and Bristol.

Documents filed on Companies House showed the restaurant chain turned over £12.2m in 1995 before its sale to Bass Brewery in 1996.

He is also the director of Oxford-based hotel company Mogford Limited, which he founded in 1987.

The business, better known as the Oxford Collection, comprises the 42-bedroom Old Bank hotel and Quod restaurant, as well as the Old Parsonage hotel and Gees restaurant, which holds a Michelin key.

In its results for the year ended 31 December 2024, the hotel group posted turnover of £19m and a loss before tax of £726,000.

A spokesperson for Jeremy Mogford told The Caterer: "I have co-operated fully with this investigation and, as I have said to the Police, this accusation is complete nonsense. Our mother was nearly 101 years old and died, as her doctor stated, of old age.”