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Scottish Sun
09-08-2025
- Health
- Scottish Sun
Payouts to soldiers who suffered hearing damage while serving could hit ‘£200m for a single year'
Military experts say almost all hearing loss cases are avoidable if soldiers are trained to properly use ear protection HARMED FORCES Payouts to soldiers who suffered hearing damage while serving could hit '£200m for a single year' Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) PAYOUTS to troops who suffered hearing damage while serving could hit £200million for a single year, figures show. The Ministry of Defence has revealed personnel made 13,748 injury claims for the 2023/2024 financial year. 2 Ex-Royal Marine James Barry was awarded £700,000 for hearing loss and tinnitus in 2023 Credit: Champion News It is the worst year yet for compensation bids and is three times more than the 4,500 for the previous 12-month period — when £180million was paid out, mostly for hearing loss. Troops who fail hearing tests are medically downgraded and can face being axed entirely. But military experts say almost all hearing loss cases are avoidable if soldiers are trained to properly use ear protection. In 2023, former Royal Marine James Barry, 34, from Nottingham, was awarded £700,000 for hearing loss and tinnitus. He claimed they were caused by not having proper training or suitable protection. The same year, ex-Mercian Regiment solider Vance Bacon-Sharratt, 35, from Mansfield, Notts, was awarded £350,000 for damage sustained during a firepower demonstration. The dad of two left the Armed Forces in 2018 as a result of his injuries. The MoD often opposes claims made by veterans claiming hearing loss, blaming other factors or arguing that proper procedure was not followed by the individual. But last year, following a court ruling, defence chiefs accepted exposure to noise in the military has been a cause of hearing loss. Ex-Army officer Col Phil Ingram said: 'Hearing loss is down to negligence by the MoD. Wills jokes 'families can be a mixed bag - some of them might not want to see you much' 'The correct use of appropriate hearing protection prevents hearing loss.' The MoD had been contacted for comment.
The Irish Sun
07-08-2025
- Business
- The Irish Sun
Scorned wives locked in battle over bigamist husband's £1.8m fortune after he secretly married BOTH of them
Accountant wed both women in Vegas chapels just 600m apart WILL ROW Scorned wives locked in battle over bigamist husband's £1.8m fortune after he secretly married BOTH of them TWO wives are locked in a battle over their bigamist husband's £1.8million fortune after he secretly married both of them. Accountant James Dinsdale died of cancer aged 55 in October 2020 - leaving second wife Margaret Dinsdale to sort his affairs. Advertisement 4 Margaret Dinsdale discovered her late husband was already married Credit: Champion News Service 4 He was still married to first wife Victoria Fowell Credit: Supplied by Champion News But the 41-year-old beautician found out James was still legally married to his first wife Victoria Fowell. The discovery meant her marriage was "void" - leaving Dinsdale with no automatic right to inherit the £1.8million fortune. Both women are now battling at the High Court after she claimed she deserved a share of the cash as she married James "in good faith". The court heard James married Fowell - a cosmetic dentist - in 2012 after whisking her off to Las Vegas. Advertisement But the pair never got divorced and he wed Dinsdale five years later at a Vegas chapel just 600m from his first wedding location. Dinsdale's lawyer said she had no clue James was still married and believed the money would be shared between her and her husband's son William under intestacy rules. Jonathan Davey KC added: "She understood the marriage between the deceased and Dr Fowell to have ended some time prior to the relationship between the deceased and the claimant beginning. "We have no idea what James' state of mind was, perhaps he didn't realise he wasn't divorced. Advertisement "Margaret's assertion is that she believed the deceased to be unmarried and already divorced when she married him in good faith." Dinsdale has made a claim for "reasonable provision" from James' estate under the 1975 Inheritance Act, amounting to at least half of his £1.8million. The bid has been brought against both Fowell and James' 28-year-old son William. Mr Davey said James and Dinsdale had a "loving relationship" and that she looked after him "24 hours a day" after he was diagnosed with cancer. Advertisement He added: "She and James had a relatively lavish lifestyle, which was funded by his wealth and she was entirely financially dependent on the deceased," he said. "Dr Fowell and William Dinsdale were not being financially maintained by the deceased at the time of his death." The court heard Dinsdale has already reportedly received £375,000 "from the estate or in sums derived from James" but her lawyer claims the amount is £20,000. High Court judge Master James Brightwell allocated the cash-strapped second wife £50,000 from the estate to help cover her bills and contribute towards hefty lawyers' bills as the case progresses. Advertisement He directed there should now be a future hearing focusing on how James' estate should be divided up between his two wives and son. Under the Inheritance Act, payouts to those treated as a spouse or civil partner are higher than to unmarried partners of a deceased person. 4 James Dinsdale died of cancer in 2020 Credit: Supplied by Champion News 4 Dinsdale has launched a bid at the High Court Credit: Champion News Service
Scottish Sun
07-08-2025
- Business
- Scottish Sun
Scorned wives locked in battle over bigamist husband's £1.8m fortune after he secretly married BOTH of them
Accountant wed both women in Vegas chapels just 600m apart WILL ROW Scorned wives locked in battle over bigamist husband's £1.8m fortune after he secretly married BOTH of them Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) TWO wives are locked in a battle over their bigamist husband's £1.8million fortune after he secretly married both of them. Accountant James Dinsdale died of cancer aged 55 in October 2020 - leaving second wife Margaret Dinsdale to sort his affairs. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 4 Margaret Dinsdale discovered her late husband was already married Credit: Champion News Service 4 He was still married to first wife Victoria Fowell Credit: Supplied by Champion News But the 41-year-old beautician found out James was still legally married to his first wife Victoria Fowell. The discovery meant her marriage was "void" - leaving Dinsdale with no automatic right to inherit the £1.8million fortune. Both women are now battling at the High Court after she claimed she deserved a share of the cash as she married James "in good faith". The court heard James married Fowell - a cosmetic dentist - in 2012 after whisking her off to Las Vegas. But the pair never got divorced and he wed Dinsdale five years later at a Vegas chapel just 600m from his first wedding location. Dinsdale's lawyer said she had no clue James was still married and believed the money would be shared between her and her husband's son William under intestacy rules. Jonathan Davey KC added: "She understood the marriage between the deceased and Dr Fowell to have ended some time prior to the relationship between the deceased and the claimant beginning. "We have no idea what James' state of mind was, perhaps he didn't realise he wasn't divorced. "Margaret's assertion is that she believed the deceased to be unmarried and already divorced when she married him in good faith." Dinsdale has made a claim for "reasonable provision" from James' estate under the 1975 Inheritance Act, amounting to at least half of his £1.8million. The bid has been brought against both Fowell and James' 28-year-old son William. Mr Davey said James and Dinsdale had a "loving relationship" and that she looked after him "24 hours a day" after he was diagnosed with cancer. He added: "She and James had a relatively lavish lifestyle, which was funded by his wealth and she was entirely financially dependent on the deceased," he said. "Dr Fowell and William Dinsdale were not being financially maintained by the deceased at the time of his death." The court heard Dinsdale has already reportedly received £375,000 "from the estate or in sums derived from James" but her lawyer claims the amount is £20,000. High Court judge Master James Brightwell allocated the cash-strapped second wife £50,000 from the estate to help cover her bills and contribute towards hefty lawyers' bills as the case progresses. He directed there should now be a future hearing focusing on how James' estate should be divided up between his two wives and son. Under the Inheritance Act, payouts to those treated as a spouse or civil partner are higher than to unmarried partners of a deceased person. 4 James Dinsdale died of cancer in 2020 Credit: Supplied by Champion News
The Irish Sun
03-07-2025
- Business
- The Irish Sun
Sheep farmer's ex-wife LOSES battle over £80MILLION ‘gift' he gave her for kids… after she divorced him & kept cash
A SHEEP farmer's ex-wife has lost a five-year legal battle to keep half of a £80million sum he gave her as part of a tax avoidance scheme. Clive Standish, 72, transferred the multi-million pound gift to his former partner Anna in 2017, with the intention of eventually placing the money in an offshore trust for their children. Advertisement 5 Clive Standish will keep the majority of an £80million gift he gave his wife Credit: Central News 5 It was initially decided by the High Court that Anna should receive half of the funds Credit: Champion News Clive, a former chief financial officer at UBS, made the decision to move the funds over to his Australian wife to exploit her non-dom status and avoid a crippling 40% inheritance-tax rate. The former banker believed he would face a bill of about £32 million if he died with the money in his name. But the pair's 15 year marriage later hit the rocks and divorce proceedings began in 2020 with the assets still in her name. It was initially decided by the High Court in 2023 that Anna, 57, should receive half of the funds in the settlement. Advertisement Read more News But last year, the Court of Appeal ruled that her share should be reduced from half to £25million. The amount was judged to fairly represent her contribution to raising the children and looking after their home. And despite Anna's recent attempts to overturn the decision, the ruling was upheld by the Supreme Court yesterday. Five judges argued that the sum was not a marital asset because it had not been shared by the couple and Mr Standish had intended it for their children. Advertisement Most read in The Sun Exclusive Exclusive The ruling said: 'Tax planning schemes to save tax, involving transfers of assets from one spouse to another, are commonplace. 'The problem for the wife is that there is nothing to show that, over time, the parties were treating the 2017 assets as shared between them. 'Rather, the transfer was in pursuance of a scheme to negate inheritance tax and it was for the benefit exclusively of the children. 'The parties' intention was that the £80 million should not be retained by the wife.' Advertisement Fresh twist in Eamonn Holmes & Ruth Langsford's divorce as celeb pair battle over £3.6m home His wife never established two offshore trusts as he had expected, so Clive was judged to be the sole owner of those assets when divorce proceedings began. Lord Faulks, representing Anna, tried to argue that the money had become shared property after the initial transfer, adding that she had contributed by accepting the gift. Mr Standish moved to Australia in 1976 and married Anna in December 2005, before the pair moved to the UK five years later. The couple lived together at Moundsmere Manor, an 18-bedroom mansion near Preston Candover, Hampshire. Advertisement Clive's laywer, Tim Bishop KC, explained that in June 2004 his client was worth £57.3 million, while Anna had 'no significant pre-marital wealth'. The marital assets at the time of the split amounted to £132million, almost all of which had come from Clive's initial fortune. Mr Bishop added: "The husband made the transfers in March 2017, but the wife failed to transfer the assets into trust by the time the marriage ran into problems in 2019 and then broke down finally in 2020". Delivering the Supreme Court ruling, Lord Burrows and Lord Stephens agreed with the Court of Appeal's verdict. Advertisement 5 The pair lived together at Moundsmere Manor in Hampshire Credit: Champion News Service 5 Clive moved the funds over to his Australian wife to avoid inheritance-tax Credit: Champion News Service Ltd They said: "There was no matrimonialisation of the 2017 assets because the transfer was to save tax and it was for the benefit of the children not the wife. "The 2017 assets were not, therefore, being treated by the husband and wife for any period of time as an asset that was shared between them. Advertisement "Transfers of capital assets with the intention of saving tax do not, without some further compelling evidence, establish that the parties are treating the capital asset as shared between them. "The 2017 assets comprise the husband's pre-marital assets and earnings that the husband made in the years 2004-2007, to which the wife contributed by being the home-maker and child carer during those years. "In relation to a scheme designed to save tax, under which one spouse transfers an asset to the other spouse, the parties' dealings with the asset do not normally show that the asset is being treated as shared between them. "Rather, the intention is simply to save tax." Advertisement 5 Anna's share following the Supreme Court ruling will stay at £25million Credit: Champion News
Scottish Sun
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
The Voice star gives birth to second baby and shares first pic – amid legal battle with brother
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) THE Voice UK star Bo Bruce has given birth to her second child as she shared a sweet photo cradling her baby girl. The TV star announced her happy news in a touching post on Instagram but is yet to reveal her child's name. Sign up for the Entertainment newsletter Sign up 7 Aristocratic singer Bo Bruce has given birth to her second child Credit: Instagram 7 The Voice star shared the news with a touching photo online of her newborn Credit: Instagram 7 She took her brother Thomas, a viscount, to court in 2022 and won - but has launched a new High Court action listed as 'dispute(s) relating to trust property' Credit: Champion News Bo, 40, penned: "Look who decided to show up" adding the hashtag #hibernatingtilspring The Voice UK runner up, who appeared on the talent show in 2012, also shared photos of her newborn in a pink babygrow and matching pink bib at a garden party with friends. Bo married Henry Binns, one half of the electronic music duo Zero 7, in 2016 and the couple welcomed a son into the world a year later. It comes as Bo, whose full name is Lady Catherine Brudenell-Bruce, is taking her brother to the High Court again after winning a legal dispute over their inheritance in 2022. The Aristocratic singer entered a bitter £2m inheritance battle with her "extremely wealthy" brother Thomas, a viscount, nearly ten years after their mum died. Thomas had failed to sell their family home and Judge Deputy Master John Linwood said in 2022 the viscount "ignored his responsibilities" to his sister as executor of the will. The court heard that Bo and her brother grew up on the family's historic Savernake Estate, near Marlborough, Wiltshire. The estate has been in the family since it was gifted to the Brudenell-Bruces' ancestors by William the Conqueror and has passed down through the generations in an unbroken line ever since. The Grade-I listed 92,000 square feet Tottenham House, which has 100 rooms, was at its centre, but has more recently been used as a prep school and by a charity, before being sold for £11.5m in 2015. Both siblings were brought up at Savernake Lodge, another substantial property on the estate, before moving into Leigh Hill House with their mum after their parents' divorce in 2009. I sued my sister after she splurged our inheritance Bo's barrister, Steven Ball, told the judge that relations had been "fairly amicable" between the siblings in the aftermath of their mum's death and she had wanted the house to stay in the family. But the court then heard that she changed her mind in 2015, emailing her brother and his representatives in a 'desperate need for money.' Thomas did not want the house to be sold to a stranger, and agreed he would continue living there and pay £20,000-a-year rent to his sister to reflect her half ownership. He claimed that he would ultimately buy her out of her share, and gave her regular loans to help cover her living expenses and £11,000 towards her wedding. However in the years following he did nothing to progress to buying her out or selling the property, which resulted in her feeling 'locked into ownership' of the property which was her 'only financial security.' Bo criticised the traditional system of male primogeniture, which favours male heirs in inheritance matters, describing it as "archaic" and "sexist". The siblings' father, the Earl of Cardigan, who was estranged from Bo, attended the two-day trial in 2022. Three years on, Thomas is still registered as the owner of the property, and Bo has launched a new High Court action listed as 'dispute(s) relating to trust property'. Bo shot to fame in 2012 after finishing as a runner-up on The Voice UK, going on to sign for Mercury Records and releasing Top 10 album Before I Sleep in 2013. She also performed at V Festival and T in the Park. She released album Bones Of Man in 2016 and it reached the No.1 spot on the electronic album charts. 7 Bo shared photos from a family party after giving birth Credit: Instagram 7 Her dad, Lord Cardigan did not attend his daughter's wedding in 2016 7 Bo Bruce on The Voice Credit: Planet Photos
