LONDON:HEATHER Mills presented a case based on "make-believe" that was wholly exaggerated and at times "devoid of reality", said the judge who presided over her messy divorce from Paul McCartney.
Two years after the couple's brief marriage came to an end, the full, sorry details of their acrimonious court battle were released yesterday, outlining the end of an unlikely alliance which the judge said had always involved "considerable volatility".
The former model had insisted that she was delighted with her settlement, finalised on Monday, of £24 million (€31 million), but had nonetheless attempted to block publication of the ruling, a bid that was given short shrift yesterday by two judges.
With the document's release, the reasons behind her attempt for privacy became clear. In a damning 58-page ruling, the judge dismissed plank after plank of the former model's case, expressing his frustration and occasional strong disapproval of her conduct.
McCartney's evidence to the court during last month's hearing had been "consistent, accurate and honest", Mr Justice Bennett said. "But I regret ... I cannot say the same about [ Mills]. I am driven to the conclusion that much of her evidence, both written and oral, was not just inconsistent and inaccurate but less than candid." Mills had indulged in "make-believe" regarding her own contribution to her husband's career, the judge found, dismissing her claims that she had designed the sets and lighting for his tours and helped him to write songs.
Before their separation, Ms Mills had also attempted to persuade the financial director of one of her husband's companies to give her £450,000 to pay off a non-existent mortgage. The judge had adjusted his award downwards in part because of Ms Mills's conduct, he said, and if she felt aggrieved, "she has only herself to blame. If, as she has done, a litigant flagrantly over-eggs the pudding and thus deprives the court of any sensible assistance, then he or she is likely to find that the court takes a robust view and drastically prunes the proposed budget".
However, allegations by McCartney that his wife had bugged his phone and repeatedly leaked information to the press in an attempt to discredit him were excluded from the judgment, as were her claims that he had assaulted her, plotted against her and locked her out of his homes. It was in no one's interest for "the sad history of the breakdown of the marriage" to be exhumed in detail.
Ms Mills emerged as a spendthrift, a habit which she has made no attempt to moderate since their separation, the judge said. In 15 months she spent £3.7 million, chartering planes and helicopters and paying staff salaries of £427,000, including to her sister and personal trainer.
Ms Mills also claimed to have paid £350,000 for security, though no invoices were available to the court and the judge dismissed the figure. The claim that she needed almost £600,000 a year for helicopter and charter flights to conduct her charitable activities was, he said, "ridiculous".
Some intensely personal details also emerged, including the revelation that the couple had stopped using contraception on the night of their wedding, when McCartney had finally removed the wedding ring given to him by his first wife, Linda, who died in 1998.
McCartney had given evidence that he was "in a sad state" following Linda's death. "Repeatedly in his evidence [ he] described how even during his relationship with [ Mills] he was grieving for Linda. I have no doubt the husband found the wife very attractive. But equally I have no doubt that he was still very emotionally tied to Linda." - (Guardian service)
Full text of judgment available on www.ireland.com/focus/