Mills admits court incident as divorce details published (Roundup)

Mar 18, 2008, 16:45 GMT

03/17/2008 - Heather Mills - Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills Divorce Hearing - March 17, 2008 - Royal Courts of Justice - London, England © Janet Mayer / PR Photos

London - Heather Mills admitted Tuesday that she poured a 'whole jug of water' over the head of a top female lawyer acting for her former husband, ex-Beatle Paul McCartney, in divorce proceedings at the High Court in London.

Mills, 40, made the admission a day after winning a financial settlement of 23.4 million pounds (46.8 million dollars) from the musician, to whom she was married for four years.

'I was very calm, then I poured the whole jug of water over her head,' said Mills about her angry outburst at Fiona Shackleton, one of Britain's most prominent divorce lawyers.

'I'm not a loser,' she had shouted at Shackleton who, in Mills' words, had put her 'through hell' over the last two years.

Reporters had been puzzled by the lawyer's bedraggled appearance as she emerged from court with Sir Paul, after arriving with an immaculate hairdo on the final day of proceedings Monday.

Meanwhile Sir Paul, 65, continued to maintain complete silence on the whole issue of his divorce. The couple have a four-year-old daughter, Beatrice Milly.

After successfully rebuffing a settlement claim of up to 125 million pounds from Mills, Sir Paul's team Tuesday won a further victory when the Court of Appeal rejected an attempt by Mills to stop publication of the full divorce ruling.

Mills had argued that the wording would reveal sensitive information concerning Beatrice Milly, and that the publication of the verdict was aimed at making her 'look the loser.'

In his verdict and reasoning, judge Hugh Bennett said that the evidence given by Mills was 'not just inconsistent and inaccurate but also less than candid.'

'Overall, she was a less than impressive witness,' he ruled, citing Mills' assertion that she had been 'wealthy and independent' before she met Sir Paul, in 1999.

He also rejected Mills' claims as to the length of her 'settled relationship' with the ex-Beatle.

By contrast, Sir Paul's evidence had been 'balanced.'

'He expressed himself moderately, though at times with justifiable irritation, if not anger. He was consistent, accurate and honest,' Judge Bennett said.

He described Mills, who has taken up a number of charitable causes, as a 'kindly person' and a 'good mother.'

Sir Paul met Mills, a former model, a year after the death of his first wife, American Linda Eastman, from breast cancer in April, 1998.

The judge backed Sir Paul's assertion that his 'true and settled relationship' with Mills began upon marriage in June, 2002 and not, as Mills asserted, in March 2000.

In assessing their relationship before their marriage, the judge said the background was of importance.

'The husband's wife, Linda, had died in 1998. Their marriage endured for some 30 years. Repeatedly in his evidence the husband described how, even during his relationship with the wife in 1999 to 2002, he was grieving for Linda,' said Judge Bennett in his ruling.

'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.'

It was 'not without significance' that, until he married Mills, Sir Paul wore the wedding ring given to him by Linda.

'The wife, for her part, must have felt rather swept off her feet by a man as famous as the husband. I think this may well have warped her perception, leading her to indulge in make-believe. The objective facts do not support her case,' ruled Judge Bennett.