Michael Jackson spent fortune on child statues

May 26, 2009, 9:25 GMT

The \'Thriller\' singer - who was cleared of child abuse allegations in 2005 - purchased the life-size bronze monuments of kids holding hands, dancing and playing on slides to display in his Neverland home. EPA/STR

Michael Jackson splashed out almost £4 million on statues of children.

The 'Thriller' singer - who was cleared of child abuse allegations in 2005 - purchased the life-size bronze monuments of kids holding hands, dancing and playing on slides to display in his Neverland home.

Jackson is said to have made the purchases - which were revealed in court documents filed by his ex-publicist Raymone Bain - while his huge debts piled up, using money from the £16 million he received for "Personal expenses" after selling his half of the ATV Music Publishing company to Sony in 2006.

In the court documents, Bain, who is suing Jackson for £33 million, claimed: "The magnitude of his spending is legendary as he has earned and dissipated several fortunes.

"Mr. Jackson's pattern has been to spend to the brink of insolvency and then borrow against his assets to further feed his spending would give any other individual a moment of pause.

"Mr. Jackson exhibited and continues to exhibit impulsive and irresponsible spending habits without regard to the financial limits of his earnings."

Most of the statues are now being auctioned in a bid to raise cash for the star.

Last week, the 50-year-old star - who is said to be in millions of pounds worth of debt - postponed the first four concerts of his 50-night residency at London's O2 arena.