‘Deplorable’ millionaire used spy cameras in home to force wife out

A “CREEPY” millionaire installed CCTV cameras to spy on his wife and subjected her to a “deplorable level of coercive control”, a court heard.

Nicholas Ratcliffe, a property developer, locked internal doors at the £1.3million Cheshire home he shared with his wife Tracey in an effort to make her move out. The claims were heard as the pair, who married in 1994 and split in 2016, appeared in court to dispute their reported £7 million fortune.

Last year, Mrs Ratcliffe was awarded £3.45million in a divorce payout, when a family judge said the break-up was “among the most acrimonious” he had ever dealt with. Mr Ratcliffe appealed, in a move his former wife’s lawyers described as another example of his “controlling” behaviour. But yesterday the payout was overturned.

Court of Appeal judges said the previous assessment of the size of the family fortune “overstated the true position”.

Mr Ratcliffe was a chartered surveyor who went on to earn most of his money as a consultant finding potential sites for Sainsbury’s supermarkets, while

Mrs Ratcliffe worked in part of his business. They had two children before separating in 2016, but continued living together before Mr Ratcliffe, 61, embarked on a “creepy” bid to force her out, Anne Hussey QC, her barrister, said.

“Despite being aware of her fragile mental health, the husband showed a deplorable level of control and embarked on a campaign designed to drive the wife from the family home’” she added. In 2018, Mr Ratcliffe was ordered to leave the family home.

At the Family Court last year, Judge Wallwork ordered the couple to split their assets in half, with each receiving £3.45million of the £6.9million he found they would have when the profits from a current development are counted. Now, however, Lord Justice

Moylan ruled that a flawed approach to the decision meant it could not stand.

Figures had been put forward for the value of the family fortune, despite uncertainty surrounding what profit the development would net.

Lord Justice Moylan, sitting with Lord Justice Popplewell and Lord Justice Phillips, declined to make a new ruling and sent it back to Judge Wallwork.