McCartney - Mills divorce decision released

Heather Mills asked for $250 million from Sir Paul McCartney in the recent divorce trial in London, England. The judge awarded her about $48.6 million. Not bad for a 4-year marriage. Mills tried to make the relationship seem longer, claiming that her 2 years of cohabitation “flowed seamlessly into marriage.” The judge didn’t buy it.

Commenting on Mills’ complaints that the press hasn’t been fair to her, Judge Bennett said Mills “is her own worst enemy. She has an explosive and volatile character.” In fact, said the judge, Mills has sometimes “behaved in an erratic, out of control, and vengeful manner.”

The judge's decision, comprising 58 pages and read in open court on March 17, 2008, was written before Mills stood up and dumped a pitcher of ice water over the head of McCartney’s lawyer, Fiona Shackleton. [How did the press learn this detail? Mills herself later bragged to the BBC outside the courthouse that she walked up to Shackleton, told her “I am not a loser,” and dumped the water over her. Mills told the BBC, “I was very calm.”]
Image: The water caper as portrayed by the courtroom sketch artist.

Mills married McCartney, 25 years her senior in 2002.  She sought money, houses, and annual support for herself and their child, Beatrice. She wanted to keep 30 paintings, claiming that McCartney had given them to her. McCartney said he wanted to keep his art collection intact, which he owned prior to the marriage and that included paintings by Picasso and Monet.

Mills tried to justify her demands by claiming that McCartney ruined her career and that she had helped him write some of his recent music. Judge Bennett characterized her demands as “ridiculous” and “wholly exaggerated.”  The judge rejected her demands for about $1 million per year in travel expenses, saying that she “flagrantly overeggs the pudding” with such extravagant claims of entitlement.

Mills fired her lawyer, who wanted some 600,000 pounds to conduct the trial, and acted as her own attorney. Judge Bennett commented on her evidence and her credibility, stating:

"I am driven to the conclusion that much of her evidence, both written and oral, was not just inconsistent and inaccurate but also less than candid. Overall she was a less than impressive witness."

McCartney, however, said Judge Bennett, “Expressed himself moderately though at times with justifiable irritation, if not anger. He was consistent, accurate and honest.”

You can read the judge’s decision, which Mills sought to keep sealed, here. Although the decision itself states that it was "handed down in private," the judge subsequently decided to release it for publication.