Shay Given’s ex-wife taken to court over supercar and €345k ring
THE former wife of Ireland soccer legend Shay Given is in a court battle with her ex-fiancé over whether she should return an Aston Martin and a €345,000 engagement ring.
Jane Given, 47, claims she should be able to keep the €230,000 supercar and ring as they were ‘gifts’ given to her by her former lover, businessman Andrew Ralph, despite dumping him and breaking off their engagement.
The former model began a relationship with Mr Ralph, 54, in February 2018, after splitting from former Ireland goalkeeper Shay, with whom she has two children, in 2013.
Ms Given and Mr Ralph planned to get married and he bought her an Aston Martin DBX. Mr Ralph also handed her an engagement ring he claimed is worth almost €345,000 during a holiday in Barbados in December 2019.
Ms Given ended the relationship in December 2020 and now her ex-fiancé is suing her to get the ring and car back. He claims the car was ‘a wedding present’, and since the wedding between them did not take place, it should be returned to him. His lawyers also said that it was ‘expressly and/or impliedly agreed that the defendant would return the engagement ring if the marriage did not proceed’.
But Ms Given claims that both the ring and the supercar were ‘gifts’ and that her ex has no right to them.
WhatsApp messages are now set to take centre stage as evidence in the court battle between the former couple as to who is the owner of the items, worth €575,000.
Judge Clive Freedman, giving judgment in a preliminary hearing at London’s High Court, said he had been shown ‘various WhatsApp messages’ between the former couple ‘which are said to be informative of the intention of the parties’. He said that Ms Given ‘relies upon’ the WhatsApp messages ‘as evidence’ that the car and ring were handed over to her as ‘an absolute gift’ and cannot be reclaimed by her ex.
‘For example, on Monday, October 19, 2020, with pictures of the car, Mr Ralph wrote, “It’s your car! Xx” and, “Just enjoy your holiday and ill (sic) have it on the drive for your return” and, “Amazing wedding pressie and amazing timing so pleased x”,’ the judge added. However, he said there was also WhatsApp evidence relied upon by Mr Ralph to back his claim. Mr Ralph had ‘announced by email’ to Ms Given that he would be attending her home in the UK to take the DBX, the court heard. The court also heard that Mr Ralph asserted: ‘There has and will not be a wedding and the car is in my name and so remains mine.’
But Ms Given’s lawyers replied, telling her ex: ‘With regard to the DBX car, we are informed your client had this built for her and presented it to her as a gift, complete with registration number. The engagement ring was also gifted to our client.’
Mr Ralph’s lawyers shot back: ‘Whilst the vehicle was intended to be a wedding gift, the reality is that the wedding did not take place.’ Mr Ralph made an application for summary judgment in relation to the car, asking the court to hand it back to him without a full trial. But Judge Freedman said the arguments were too complex to be decided without a full court fight.
The former lovers will now face each other across court in a full trial unless they can settle out of court beforehand.
‘Wedding did not take place’