Gambler's ex-wife seeks to increase payout to £1m … four years after he died

 
Penny Ann Davison and Tillingdown Farm, the country estate in Surrey (Picture: Richard Gittins)
Paul Cheston23 April 2015

The ex-wife of a notorious gambler and racehorse trainer is trying to increase her share of his estate to more than £1 million, four years after his death.

Albert Davison, described by a High Court judge as a “charming rogue”, made a fortune by putting six-figure bets on his own horses.

By the time he died in 2011, at 73, he owned a £4.25 million seven-bedroom country estate in Surrey.

Mr Davison and his second wife, beautician Penny Ann Davison, had fought a bitter four-year battle through the divorce courts over his fortune.

Mrs Davison, 59, who had two children with her ex-husband, ended up with a settlement of £750,000 after a divorce court judge found Mr Davison had squandered millions of his winnings through “wasteful expenditure and bad decision making”.

He died two years after that ruling. His former wife has now come back to court, seeking to increase her payout to more than £1 million.

Mrs Davison claims her ex-husband’s death has freed up more of his cash by avoiding a tax bill. But his daughter from his first marriage, racehorse trainer Zoe Davison, says her former stepmother is trying to grab the remnants of her inheritance.

The couple married in 1994, after a five-year romance. They had two children before separating in 1999 and Mrs Davison started divorce proceedings in 2005.

In that High Court hearing Mrs Justice Baron ordered the trust controlling the country estate to pay out a £756,000 lump sum to Mrs Davison.

She described Mr Davison as “master of the betting coup”, adding: “I found the husband to be a charming rogue. I liked him. Despite that I consider that he is a shrewd and manipulative individual who told me many untruths.”

In the latest hearing, at the Appeal Court, Lord Justices Patten and Briggs and Lady Justice King heard Mr Davison had put the racing stables and matrimonial home into a complex structure of off-shore companies and trusts.

Lynsey Cade-Davies, for Mrs Davison, said the gambler’s death had reduced his tax liability. She told the judges a deal had been done with HMRC which had reduced a £2 million tax demand and therefore his ex-wife was entitled to an “uplift”, taking her payout above £1 million.

Lawyers representing the trusts which hold Mr Davison’s wealth said only £200,000 remains in the fund after his debts — including the payout to his ex-wife — were covered.

Outside court, Miss Davison, who is not a party to the case, accused her former stepmother of trying to mine out the last remains of her inheritance.

She told Mrs Davison and her lawyers: “That’s all I’ve got left now, a measly £200,000. I hope you people are proud of yourselves.” The judges reserved their decision to a date to be set.

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