Judge denies wife of millionaire a divorce: ‘Minor rows are just a part of marriage’
Woman takes rare case to Court of Appeal and gives 27 reasons why she feels ‘unloved and mistrusted’
THE WIFE of a multi-millionaire mushroom farmer was refused a divorce after a judge ruled that her husband’s constant berating about her affair was to be “expected in a marriage”.
Tini Owens, 66, claimed she was “locked in” to the 37-year marriage with Hugh Owens, 78, after a divorce judge rejected her petition to leave in a highly unusual decision last year.
She said his “continued beratement”, including criticising her in front of their housekeeper, rowing in an airport shop and not speaking during a meal, amounted to unreasonable behaviour.
A barrister representing Mrs Owens told the Court of Appeal yesterday that the “vast majority” of divorces were undefended in 21st century England. Philip Marshall QC added: “It is extraordinarily unusual in modern times for a court to dismiss a petition for divorce.”
Mrs Owens had made 27 allegations about the way Mr Owens treated her and argued there was no “prospect of reconciliation”. She said he was “insensitive” in his “manner and tone”, and that she was “constantly mistrusted” and felt unloved.
The details emerged at the appeal court, where Mrs Owens is asking judges to overturn the decision. Mr Owens has so far claimed he has moved on and forgiven his wife for her “misguided” fling in 2012, saying he wants them to remain married as they “still have a few years of old age together”.
But Mrs Owens insists she feels “unloved, isolated and alone”, and says her husband’s behaviour amounts to grounds for divorce.
Britain’s top family judge, Sir James Munby, was told that the couple married in January 1978, but have lived apart since February 2015. Over the years, they built up a mushroom-growing business which turns over £5 million a year, amassed four houses – including a manor house in Worcestershire, plus properties in Wales and France – and lived a “genteel life in genteel company”.
Mrs Owens, however, had a brief intimate relationship with another man, Ted Olive, in November 2012. The fling ended in August 2013 and Mrs Owens moved out of the matrimonial home.
Judge Robin Tolson QC refused her divorce petition last year after concluding that her husband’s behaviour had not been unreasonable. He also called the farmer’s attitude “old school”.
Mrs Owens had outlined her husband’s conduct, saying it included telling her to help her housekeeper pick up bits of cardboard in the garden. They had a row in an airport shop in Cancun, Mexico, while he made “stinging remarks” during a meal with a friend, she said.
But the judge described her claims against her husband as “exaggerated” and “at best flimsy”, claiming they were “minor altercations of a kind to be expected in a marriage” and “an exercise in scraping the barrel”. Her counsel yesterday told the court that Mrs Owens was now “locked in” to the marriage. Arguing that her human rights were being violated, Mr Marshall added: “There doesn’t have to be violence, or threats of violence, or gambling or drinking or shouting. There is cumulative effect of what may be regarded as inconsequential conduct, which may justify a finding that it is unreasonable to expect her to stay with him.” Nigel Dyer QC, for Mr Owens, said the initial judge was “entitled to reject the wife’s case”. “It might be said that elderly parties to a 40year marriage might be more robust in their relationship with each other,” he added. The judges are expected to reserve their decision on Mrs Owens’s appeal and give their ruling at a later date.
‘It is extraordinarily unusual in modern times for a court to dismiss a petition for divorce’