Latest news with #RachelOHare
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
Coroner orders mental health reports over death of mother who fell from building while in bitter legal fight with her antique dealer fiance about ownership of £2.7m London property
A coroner today asked for mental health reports on a mother who fell to her death while embroiled in a bitter legal fight with her fiancé over their £2.7million London home. Rachel O'Hare, founder of a charity which helps women in domestic violence refuges, was found next to a city centre apartment block last month. The 49-year-old divorcee was suing her ex–lover, celebrity antiques dealer Owen Pacey, 60, for ownership of a five–storey Georgian mansion, in the trendy area of Spitalfields, East London, before she died. Ms O'Hare, whose charity Elle for Elle aimed to support women in need by offering them basic toiletries and beauty products, was pronounced dead outside Victoria House, Ancoats, on the edge of Manchester city centre, on June 30. The mother-of-three was described by friends as a 'kind, energetic woman who put others before herself'. Area coroner for Manchester Mr Paul Appleton – opening the inquest this morning – asked for details of any mental health treatment Ms O'Hare may have received. Mr Appleton said: 'I am conducting the opening of the inquest of the sudden and sad death of Rachel O'Hare. 'I have been provided with a witness statement by police coroner's officer Elizabeth Davies. 'Officer Davies described the circumstances of that to be as follows. On June 30, 2025, Rachel was found deceased outside Victoria House on Great Ancoats Street, Manchester. 'Police attended the scene and sadly pronounced her life to be extinct based upon Rachel having injuries which were deemed to be incompatible with life.' The inquest – held at Manchester Coroner's Court – heard how Ms O'Hare, an interior designer, was formally identified by her passport, and the clothing and jewellery she was wearing, as described by her daughter. A preliminary cause of death provided by Dr Martin Swali was multiple traumatic injuries. Mr Appleton added: 'A witness statement is to be provided by Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust as to any relevant contact, care or treatment provided to Rachel.' A witness statement is to be provided by Rachel's general practitioner and or the surgery. The coroner went on: 'The full file from Greater Manchester Police is to be provided once complete and the results of post-mortem toxicology analysis are to be provided in due course.' A date for the hearing is expected to be confirmed later in the year. According to court documents seen by the Mail, she claims she paid for the London property and it was rightfully hers. Ms O'Hare alleged that Mr Pacey, a former squatter and self–made antique fireplace expert who counts Mick Jagger, Naomi Campbell, Kate Winslet and Orlando Bloom among his clients, had locked her out of the luxury home. She says he stopped her from collecting her belongings, refused to pay any bills and threatened to 'trash' the interior, which is packed with beautiful artwork, ornate Italian chandeliers and expensive designer furniture. The couple, who split acrimoniously in May last year, were due to go head to head over the property at a High Court trial in the next few months. But just four days after the most recent hearing in the case, at Leeds Combined Court, on June 26, Ms O'Hare was found dead. The five–storey Georgian mansion in west London that was the centre of Ms O'Hare and Mr Pacey's court battle In a statement to the court in Leeds, Ms O'Hare claimed Mr Pacey persuaded her to buy the elegant 18th Century house, in Wilkes Street, east London, in their joint names, in June 2021. She took out a loan and also used the proceeds of her divorce settlement from ex–husband, Steve O'Hare, 50, a Cheshire–based millionaire investment manager, with whom she had three teenage children, to pay for it. At that time, she and Mr Pacey had been together for less than a year following a whirlwind romance after meeting at his high–end fireplace showroom, Renaissance, which is based in a former Victorian pub, in Shoreditch, east London. Legal papers seen by MailOnline show that when the former couple bought the house together in 2021, they both signed an agreement specifying that if one of them were to die, ownership of the house would pass to the surviving partner The documents, drawn up by the solicitors who had handled the purchase of the historic Spitalfields house, had offered Mr Pacey and Ms O'Hare two options: they could either each own a specified proportion of the whole property or they could jointly own the whole with full ownership reverting to the surviving partner if the other predeceased them. Because they chose the latter option, the documents signed on 1st August 2021 mean Owen Pacey became the sole owner of the £2.7 million 18th Century property in London following Rachel O'Hare's sudden death. In a newspaper interview while they were still a couple, Mr Pacey claimed it was love at first sight when they first met. 'She bought a table,' he said. 'That was it, as soon as I saw her.' Ms O'Hare said Mr Pacey, who was brought up in a council flat in gritty Bethnal Green and left school at 14 with no qualifications, promised to pay her his share of the four–bedroomed property within two years, once he had sold the £1.2million maisonette above the shop that he owned. 'The first defendant (Mr Pacey) said he had no money to contribute when the property was purchased but would be able to pay the claimant for his share in due course,' legal documents said. To give her peace of mind, Ms O'Hare said Mr Pacey also agreed to put half of his fireplace business, worth around £5million, in her name until he secured the monies. She also claimed they agreed to share the cost of renovating the house – they spent £14,000 on radiator valves alone – and, if he didn't pay his share or they split, it would revert back to her ownership. Mr Pacey gave her paperwork to sign, which persuaded her he was arranging the legal formalities, and also sent her reassuring texts, saying: 'You are on the title deed either of the flat or shop,' she said. Shortly before Christmas, in 2022, the couple got engaged and Mr Pacey did 'gift' Ms O'Hare a 50 per cent share in the three–bedroomed maisonette. He moved into the newly renovated Wilkes Street property and told a journalist: 'I used to dream about living in Spitalfields. To actually live there now – I've never been so happy.' But Ms O'Hare remained in Mere, Cheshire, with her three school–age children and 10 months later, in October 2023, the couple's 'turbulent' relationship started hitting the rocks. Ms O'Hare discovered Mr Pacey had never formalised her 50 per cent stake in his business and they began arguing regularly over money. She claimed she had ended up paying the lion's share of the house refurbishment when he failed to pay builders' fees. She also alleged Mr Pacey was 'controlling' and instructed lawyers to begin legal action against him. 'The relationship between the claimant (Ms O'Hare) and the first defendant (Mr Pacey) was turbulent,' Ms O'Hare's claim said. 'Incidents led to temporary separations and there was a final and unequivocal parting in May 2024. 'The claimant contends that the cause of the breakdowns was the first defendant's controlling and abusive behaviour, which led to the involvement of the police.' Mr Pacey was alleged to have promised to put half of his business in Ms O'Hare's name – only to never have done so In a defence statement also submitted to the court, Mr Pacey denied persuading Ms O'Hare, a respected fundraiser who set up a domestic abuse charity providing toiletries for women living in refuges, to buy the house in their joint names. He said she did so because they were 'in love' and there was no discussion or agreement about him eventually paying for half of the house or transferring over 50 per cent of his business. 'The parties (Ms O'Hare and Mr Pacey) were going to get married and there was just no discussion about who owned what,' his defence document said. Mr Pacey, who once described being made homeless and forced to live in a squat in King's Cross after having his first flat repossessed in the 1980s as the 'most traumatic thing I've ever been through,' also denied being controlling. He said they had only argued seriously twice – both times when Ms O'Hare had been drunk, in Rye, Kent, in the summer of 2023 and the night before they were departing to New York in May 2024. He also denied not allowing Ms O'Hare access to the property, now estimated to be worth in excess of £3.2m, or not paying bills or threatening to trash it. He claimed he paid £70,000 towards the house renovation and provided most of the furniture from his shop. He had also installed six Italian marble fireplaces, worth £350,000, and claimed Ms O'Hare had organised glossy magazine features to show off and promote the 2,700sq ft house, which they planned to rent out for use in £1,000–a–day photo shoots. According to his statement, dated February this year, he wanted to get the maisonette and the Georgian home valued, so that he could buy her out of both properties. When approached by the Mail, Mr Pacey refused to discuss his legal dispute with his former fiancee except to say: 'I worshipped the ground Rachel walked on.' He added that Ms O'Hare had been suffering from poor mental health in the weeks leading up to her death and had recently been treated in hospital. Mr Pacey said: 'I'm suffering with my own mental health. I don't want to be here without her.'
The Sun
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Woman who fell to her death from tower block ‘was suing celebrity antiques dealer ex for their £2.7m London home'
A MUM who fell to her death from a tower block was entangled in a bitter legal battle with her celebrity antiques dealer fiance over their £2.7million London home. Rachel O'Hare was tragically pronounced dead at the scene in the heart of Manchester on Monday, June 30, after falling to her death. 3 3 As reported by the Mail, the 49-year-old was suing her ex-lover Owen Pacey, 60, over their £2.7million four-bedroom London home. Tributes poured in for the widely-respected charity fundraiser, who co-founded a group which worked to help vulnerable women in refuges. Her charity Elle for Elle aimed to support women in need with basic toiletries and beauty products, with the charity's work said to have been praised in Westminster. She is also believed to have held a role with The Cheshire Magazine, coordinating charity events both in the Cheshire area and further afield. O'Hare died just four days after a hearing in a bitter property dispute with her fiance at Leeds Combined Court on June 26. The mum-of-three had stated in legal documents that she paid for the Wilkes Street home using divorce settlement funds and a loan, and that it was rightfully hers. She claimed: 'The first defendant said he had no money to contribute when the property was purchased but would be able to pay the claimant for his share in due course.' She also alleged that Mr Pacey later locked her out of the house, refused to pay bills, and threatened to 'trash' the interior of their luxury London home. The glam pad was said to be filled with Italian chandeliers, designer furniture, and swanky art. Mr Pacey, a self-made antique fireplace dealer has boasted a celebrity client list including Mick Jagger, Naomi Campbell and Kate Winslet. Woman who died after 'falling from UK city building' is pictured as tributes paid to 'widely-respected' charity worker He said he did not have the funds to put towards the property but would pay for his share "in due course," according to court documents seen by the Mail. The couple met in 2020 after Ms O'Hare bought a table from his showroom and began a rapid-fire romance. Pacey claimed it was "love at first sight" in an interview and by June 2021 they had purchased the property together. According to the MailOnline, they had reportedly signed documents - drawn up by solicitors overseeing the purchase of the house - agreeing that the house would pass fully to the surviving partner if either of them died. Because of this, Mr Pacey became the sole legal owner of the property following his fiance's death. O'Hare had remained in Cheshire with her teenage kids while Mr Pacey moved into their Spitalfields home. She reportedly claimed he had promised to pay her back once he sold a £1.2million apartment above his shop in Shoreditch. To reassure her, he had allegedly agreed to put half of his £5million fireplace business in her name, but never did. Ms O'Hare said they had promised to share the cost of renovation work, but she footed most of the bills when he failed to pay contractors. This included a whopping £14,000 bill for radiator valves alone. The mum had already taken a loan to pay for the property and used funds from her divorce with millionaire investment boss ex Steve O'Hare. Mr Pacey allegedly gave her documents to sign, which led her to believe he was in the process of sorting out the legal side of things. According to the MailOnline, she said that she also received messages telling her her name was on the title deed of the flat or shop to reassure her. Later, she allegedly claimed Mr Pacey had been controlling and that their relationship had broken down multiple times. Legal papers reportedly described their relationship as 'turbulent.' They were engaged in December 2022, but by May 2024, the pair had separated permanently. She was pursuing legal action in the High Court, and the pair were due to face off at trial in the coming months. Tragically, her body was found on June 30 outside her apartment block in Manchester city centre. Police have confirmed there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding her death, and an inquest is due to open this week. Documents show Ms O'Hare believed she was entitled to full ownership of the Spitalfields property. But due to the agreement they signed in 2021, writing that if either of them died, the other would automatically inherit the house, the property reverted to Mr Pacey. He now has full ownership of the home after O'Hare's sudden death. In a defence statement submitted to the court, Mr Pacey denied persuading Rachel to buy the house in their joint names. Mr Pacey says that Rachel agreed to do so because they were in love. He also claimed that there was no discussion about him paying for half of the house or transferring over 50 per cent of his business. The defence document said: "The parties (Ms O'Hare and Mr Pacey) were going to get married and there was just no discussion about who owned what. Mr Pacey also has denied being controlling and claimed that the couple only seriously argued twice - once in Kent, during the summer of 2023, and once in New York in May 2024. He says that Rachel was drunk during both occasions. In his defence statement, dated February this year, he also denied refusing allowing Rachel access to the house or not paying bills and threatening to trash it. Mr Pacey claims that he paid £70,000 towards the house's refurbishment and that provided much of the furniture from his shop. According to him, he installed six Italian fireplaces worth £350,000. According to his statement, Mr Pacey wanted to get the Georgian Townhouse and the maisonette, in order to buy Rachel out of both properties. When approached by the Daily Mail, Mr Pacey refused to speak about any legal disputes with Rachel. Instead, he said: "I worshipped the ground Rachel walked on." Mr Pacey also claimed that his former fiancée had been suffering from poor mental health in the weeks leading up to her death and had allegedly recently been treated in hospital. He added: "I'm suffering with my own mental health. I don't want to be here without her." 3
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Ex-wife of super rich equity boss was fighting her celebrity antiques dealer fiance for their £2.7m 18th century London home when she fell to her death from tower block
A mother who fell to her death from a city centre apartment block was embroiled in a bitter legal fight with her celebrity antiques dealer fiancé over their £2.7million London home. Rachel O'Hare, 49, was suing her ex-lover Owen Pacey, 60, for ownership of the five-storey Georgian mansion, in the trendy area of Spitalfields, before she died. According to court documents seen by the Mail, she claims she paid for the property and it was rightfully hers. Ms O'Hare alleged that Mr Pacey, a former squatter and self-made antique fireplace expert who counts Mick Jagger, Naomi Campbell, Kate Winslet and Orlando Bloom among his clients, had locked her out of the luxury home. She says he stopped her from collecting her belongings, refused to pay any bills and threatened to 'trash' the interior, which is packed with beautiful artwork, ornate Italian chandeliers and expensive designer furniture. The couple, who split acrimoniously in May last year, were due to go head to head over the property at a High Court trial in the next few months. But just four days after the most recent hearing in the case, at Leeds Combined Court, on June 26, Ms O'Hare was found dead. The exact details of what happened during the costs and case management hearing are unknown, but on June 30 her body was discovered on the pavement next to an apartment complex, in Manchester city centre, where she was living. Police said there are no suspicious circumstances and an inquest into her death is due to open next week. In a statement to the court, Ms O'Hare claimed Mr Pacey persuaded her to buy the elegant 18th Century house, in Wilkes Street, east London, in their joint names, in June 2021. She took out a loan and also used the proceeds of her divorce settlement from ex-husband, Steve O'Hare, 50, a Cheshire-based millionaire investment manager, with whom she had three teenage children, to pay for it. At that time, she and Mr Pacey had been together for less than a year following a whirlwind romance after meeting at his high-end fireplace showroom, Renaissance, which is based in a former Victorian pub, in Shoreditch, east London. Legal papers seen by MailOnline show that when the former couple bought the house together in 2021, they both signed an agreement specifying that if one of them were to die, ownership of the house would pass to the surviving partner The documents, drawn up by the solicitors who had handled the purchase of the historic Spitalfields house, had offered Mr Pacey and Ms O'Hare two options: they could either each own a specified proportion of the whole property or they could jointly own the whole with full ownership reverting to the surviving partner if the other predeceased them. Because they chase the latter option, the documents, signed on 1st August 2021, mean Owen Pacey became the sole owner of the £2.7 million 18th property in London following Rachel O'Hare's sudden death. In a newspaper interview while they were still a couple, Mr Pacey claimed it was love at first sight when they first met. 'She bought a table,' he said. 'That was it, as soon as I saw her.' Ms O'Hare said Mr Pacey, who was brought up in a council flat in gritty Bethnal Green and left school at 14 with no qualifications, promised to pay her his share of the four-bedroomed property within two years, once he had sold the £1.2million maisonette above the shop that he owned. 'The first defendant (Mr Pacey) said he had no money to contribute when the property was purchased but would be able to pay the claimant for his share in due course,' legal documents said. To give her peace of mind, Ms O'Hare said Mr Pacey also agreed to put half of his fireplace business, worth around £5million, in her name until he secured the monies. She also claimed they agreed to share the cost of renovating the house – they spent £14,000 on radiator valves alone – and, if he didn't pay his share or they split, it would revert back to her ownership. Mr Pacey gave her paperwork to sign, which persuaded her he was arranging the legal formalities, and also sent her reassuring texts, saying: 'You are on the title deed either of the flat or shop,' she said. Steve O'Hare (left) is co-managing partner of Equistone Partners Europe. Tributes have poured in for Rachel (right) who co-founded a charity for victims of domestic violence Shortly before Christmas, in 2022, the couple got engaged and Mr Pacey did 'gift' Ms O'Hare a 50 per cent share in the three-bedroomed maisonette. He moved into the newly renovated Wilkes Street property and told a journalist: 'I used to dream about living in Spitalfields. To actually live there now – I've never been so happy.' But Ms O'Hare remained in Mere, Cheshire, with her three school-age children and 10 months later, in October 2023, the couple's 'turbulent' relationship started hitting the rocks. Ms O'Hare discovered Mr Pacey had never formalised her 50 per cent stake in his business and they began arguing regularly over money. She claimed she had ended up paying the lion's share of the house refurbishment when he failed to pay builders' fees. She also alleged Mr Pacey was 'controlling' and instructed lawyers to begin legal action against him. 'The relationship between the claimant (Ms O'Hare) and the first defendant (Mr Pacey) was turbulent,' Ms O'Hare's claim said. 'Incidents led to temporary separations and there was a final and unequivocal parting in May 2024. 'The claimant contends that the cause of the breakdowns was the first defendant's controlling and abusive behaviour, which led to the involvement of the police.' In a defence statement also submitted to the court, Mr Pacey denied persuading Ms O'Hare, a respected fundraiser who set up a domestic abuse charity providing toiletries for women living in refuges, to buy the house in their joint names. He said she did so because they were 'in love' and there was no discussion or agreement about him eventually paying for half of the house or transferring over 50 per cent of his business. 'The parties (Ms O'Hare and Mr Pacey) were going to get married and there was just no discussion about who owned what,' his defence document said. Mr Pacey, who once described being made homeless and forced to live in a squat in King's Cross after having his first flat repossessed in the 1980s as the 'most traumatic thing I've ever been through,' also denied being controlling. He said they had only argued seriously twice - both times when Ms O'Hare had been drunk, in Rye, Kent, in the summer of 2023 and the night before they were departing to New York in May 2024. He also denied not allowing Ms O'Hare access to the property, now estimated to be worth in excess of £3.2m, or not paying bills or threatening to trash it. He claimed he paid £70,000 towards the house renovation and provided most of the furniture from his shop. He had also installed six Italian marble fireplaces, worth £350,000, and claimed Ms O'Hare had organised glossy magazine features to show off and promote the 2,700sq ft house, which they planned to rent out for use in £1,000-a-day photo shoots. According to his statement, dated February this year, he wanted to get the maisonette and the Georgian home valued, so that he could buy her out of both properties. When approached by the Mail, Mr Pacey refused to discuss his legal dispute with his former fiancee except to say: 'I worshipped the ground Rachel walked on.' He added that Ms O'Hare had been suffering from poor mental health in the weeks leading up to her death and had recently been treated in hospital. Mr Pacey said: 'I'm suffering with my own mental health. I don't want to be here without her.'
Daily Mail
14-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Revealed: Ex-wife of millionaire private equity boss and a founder of a domestic abuse charity fell to her death from Manchester tower block
A mother-of-three who fell to her death from a city centre high-rise was the former wife of a millionaire private equity boss, MailOnline can reveal. Rachel O'Hare, 49, was killed falling from a block of flats in Manchester on June 30 in a tragedy described by police as 'non-suspicious'. It has now emerged that Ms O'Hare, who founded a domestic abuse charity, was previously married to wealthy investment firm manager, Steve O'Hare. The couple, who married in 2000, had lived together in a four-bedroom detached house worth £2million in the exclusive 'golden triangle' Cheshire village of Mere. Their three children went to a prestigious independent school. A family friend said: 'Rachel and Steve had been married for a long time and raised a family together. 'Although they eventually went their separate ways, they both continued to care deeply about their children. 'Those who knew Rachel remember her as a kind, energetic woman who put others before herself. 'Her death has come as a deep shock to everyone who knew her.' Mr O'Hare, 50, is the co-managing partner of Equistone Partners Europe, an independent investment firm. He lives in a £2million five-bed house in affluent Knutsford, in an area popular with Premier League footballers. Ms O'Hare was pronounced dead after falling from the Victoria House apartments onto Great Ancoats Street on June 30. Her death is not being treated as suspicious. An inquest will open next week. Tributes poured in for the widely-respected fundraiser, who had dedicated her time to helping vulnerable women in refuges. Her charity Elle for Elle aimed to support women in need by offering them basic toiletries and beauty products, with the organisation even understood to be the subject of praise in Westminster. Ms O'Hare is also believed to have held a role with The Cheshire Magazine, coordinating charity events both in the area and further afield. Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said in a statement at the time: 'We were called to Great Ancoats Street at about 7am to reports the body of a woman had been found. 'It appears she [had] fallen from a building but officers are currently investigating to determine the circumstances.' Dutch tourist Paul Melis, 34, who was staying at the Leonardo Hotel next door, said: 'Apparently she fell in the early hours. 'It's very sad. We had something to eat and came back at midnight and nothing had happened. 'Then we were told the police were there and a woman was found on the pavement after falling from the flats. It's very sad.' A police cordon was in place for nearly six hours before it was dismantled by police. The area had also been cleaned. One worker said: 'I was told she had fallen from one of the upper flats. I think she was a resident but I'm not sure who she was.' Builder Matt Armstrong, 29, said: 'There was a police van and blue flashing flat when I arrived. 'There was a lot of police everywhere and people looked shocked. People walking to work had seen the body. It's shocking.'
Daily Mail
08-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Pictured: Woman who died after 'falling from high-rise building' was domestic abuse charity hero
A woman who died after falling from a high-rise building in a busy city centre street has been pictured and named as a domestic abuse charity worker. Rachel O'Hare, in her 40s, was pronounced dead at the scene on Monday, June 30 after emergency services were called to Great Ancoats Street in Manchester at around 7am. Police launched an investigation and the area around the Leonardo Hotel and Victoria House apartments was cordoned off. Tributes have now poured in for the widely-respected fundraiser, who dedicated her time to helping vulnerable women in refuges. Ms O'Hare's charity Elle for Elle aimed to support women in need by offering them basic toiletries and beauty products, with the organisation even understood to be the subject of praise in Westminster. Her charity was then dissolved in 2022, according to Companies House. Along with the enterprise, Ms O'Hare is believed to have held a role with the The Cheshire Magazine, coordinating charity events both in the area and further afield. Ms O'Hare is originally from the Wirral and is also believed to have been a mother, the Manchester Evening News reports. Launching an investigation, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said it appeared she had fallen from a building. An incident command van was called to the scene, as well as ambulances and police cars. GMP said on June 30: 'We were called to Great Ancoats Street at about 7am to reports the body of a woman had been found. 'It appears she [had] fallen from a building but officers are currently investigating to determine the circumstances.' Dutch tourist Paul Melis, 34, who was staying at the Leonardo Hotel next door, said: 'Apparently she fell in the early hours. 'It's very sad. We had something to eat and came back at midnight and nothing had happened. 'Then we were told the police were there and a woman was found on the pavement after falling from the flats. 'It's very sad.' A police cordon was in place for nearly six hours before it was dismantled by police. The area had also been cleaned. One worker said: 'I was told she had fallen from one of the upper flats. I think she was a resident but I'm not sure who she was.' Builder Matt Armstrong, 29, said: 'There was a police van and blue flashing flat when I arrived this morning. 'There was a lot of police everywhere and people looked shocked. 'People walking to work had seen the body. It's shocking.'
