Divorcee wins £300,000 court settlement

A divorcee has won her battle for more money from her former husband's fortune but has been warned for not being candid about her lavish new lifestyle.

The Court of Appeal censured Jayne Shaw, who married farmer Philip Shaw in 1985 when she was 28 and he was 30, for her "lack of candour" at earlier court hearings.

The appeal court ruling effectively means Mrs Shaw, who has already received a £125,000 settlement, will receive another £300,000 from her former husband.

Mr Shaw, a Lincolnshire farmer who looks after their three children, has seen his original £3.3m assets cut to just £1.6m by the long court battle.

Georgian property

Lord Justice Thorpe said: "The court should censure the lack of candour in the wife's statements during the preparatory stages of the case."

When Mrs Shaw began her battle for her share of the family assets, Mr Shaw ran farms covering nearly 1,500 acres in Lincolnshire.

His holdings have now been reduced to just over 500 acres.

Mr Shaw fought his wife through the courts after learning of her relationship with John Martin-Hoyes, a Lincolnshire plant hire chief.

She had claimed at a district court hearing that she had no plans to re-marry, needed a home of her own and was struggling to survive.

She was awarded £400,000 to cover the cost of a home, a car and a clean break lump sum.

Foreign trips

This was slashed to just £195,000 at Leicester County Court in September last year after the judge heard that she lived at a "gracious Georgian property" in Harmston, Lincolnshire with Mr Martin-Hoyes.

She had use of four vehicles including an £80,000 Mercedes sports car, shopped at Harrods and Harvey Nichols with money provided by her boyfriend and enjoyed 15 foreign holidays including trips to Manhattan, Mauritius and the Seychelles.

Mrs Shaw claimed at the Court of Appeal that she had made a full disclosure of her assets and that Judge Hall's settlement figure was "neither fair nor just".

The former couple's matrimonial home at Covenham St Mary, Lincolnshire, is now on the market at £125,000 to provide cash to help meet the divorce settlement.

Lord Justice Thorpe said the husband became "more strident" about his former wife's relationship with Mr Martin-Hoyes, accusing her of being devious, untruthful and perverting the course of justice.

He also said Mrs Shaw had understated the financial benefits she received from her new partner.

But he said he agreed that Mr Shaw had failed to establish any material non-disclosure by his former wife.