Lawyer awarded ex-fiance's flat

Miss Cox claimed a half-share in the mill, but was awarded 25%

A barrister who took her former fiance to the High Court for a share of property she said she was promised, has won assets worth £400,000.

Kerry Cox was awarded a £200,000 flat in Islington, north London, and a 25% share of a mill in Essex she was converting with Lawrence Jones.

Both were in his name and he said they had only been engaged for weeks during the stormy three-year relationship.

Arguments over payment of the estimated £300,000 case costs continue next week.

Miss Cox, 39, told the High Court she had broken off the engagement because of Mr Jones's drunken violence.

'Uncontrollable dog'

Mr Jones, 54, also a barrister, denied he was an aggressive drunk but said the relationship, which ended in May 2001, was "tempestuous and topsy-turvy".

He said they were only ever engaged for a few weeks before Miss Cox had to move out because of the "uncontrollable" behaviour of her dog, Bootsy.

He also said he took away the £20,000 engagement ring he had given her because she was seeing other men, and made his own High Court claim for its return.

In her witness statement, Miss Cox said Mr Jones regarded her claims "as those of an opportunist gold-digger of dubious moral standards".

This case has been exceptionally unpleasant from beginning to end, Kerry Cox

But she said she had trusted him as a "man of utter integrity" and brought the proceedings with "great regret and reluctance".

"I am also embarrassed that, given I am a barrister, I failed to protect my position by insisting that the trust deeds were drafted immediately, and/or insisting that my name was on the title deeds," she said.

Mr Jones, who has since married, said Miss Cox had fabricated all her claims about their agreements.

Judge Mr Justice Mann threw out his claim for the ring and Miss Cox's claim for the return of a Fiat car and furniture.

'A sad day'

Miss Cox was granted 25% of the £800,000 property at Hulls Mill, Great Maplestead, Essex, which they had bought to convert into their country home.

And she was given full ownership of the Islington flat, above her own home in Thornhill Bridge Wharf.

Outside the court Mr Jones said he was surprised by the verdict, adding: "I think this is a sad day for the decent and generous".

Miss Cox said she was happy with the result, but sad that "it had to come to this".

"This case has been exceptionally unpleasant from beginning to end," she said.