Businessman sues ex-love for return of gift ... a £2k Toyota
A WEALTHY married businessman spent thousands of pounds on a hospital worker in an apparent bid to woo her.
Patrick Bradley bought Sheila McKenzie diamond jewellery and cars – and even paid £50,000 to help renovate her house.
But when she later spurned his advances, the suitor had second thoughts about his generosity.
Now the 72-year-old is demanding that the one-time object of his affections return some of his gifts.
He has lodged an action at Perth Sheriff Court asking her to hand back a £2,000 car he gave her.
The case is the latest twist in the tangled saga of his infatuation with Mrs McKenzie, 56.
The pair had sex twice a decade ago – an affair which Mrs McKenzie later said she regretted.
They had kept in touch and he bought her a string of gifts.
But he was furious when she tried to break off contact and pestered her so much that he was accused of stalking – although a court found him not guilty. Now, after being told he may contact her only through solicitors, he is suing her for the return of the car.
In papers lodged at the court, the former accountant and haulage contractor said: ‘I am quite prepared to accept a reasonable offer.’ During a criminal trial this year, he admitted falling in love with Mrs McKenzie. He told Perth Sheriff Court he was a wealthy and generous man who had once written a cheque for his sister for £375,000.
But Mrs McKenzie, who had known him as a family friend since 1993, said she was ashamed of the affair and had tried without success to break off contact with him.
In September, Mr Bradley, of Aberfeldy, Perthshire, was cleared of stalking her between December 13, 2010, and May 11, 2018.
He denied phoning and emailing her, leaving unwanted messages at her home, contacting her family and friends and demanding they make her contact him, and threatening to expose their affair. Sheriff
Jillian Martin-Brown ruled that, while he had caused ‘discomfort’ to Mrs McKenzie, she did not think he had caused her ‘fear or alarm’.
The sheriff added: ‘She felt uncomfortable with the friendship but allowed it to persist because she feared he would tell her family she had slept with him.
‘In December 2017 she intimated that she did not want any contact. I do not accept she felt scared of Mr Bradley. He was candid that he continued to contact her when she tried to break things off. He wanted to resume the relationship using generosity.’
But now Mr Bradley has started a legal battle to win back a Toyota Avensis he gifted to her. The court was told the car was worth £2,050 and had been transferred from Mrs McKenzie to her daughter.
He said: ‘The sale was supposed to have been made to her daughter. Some evidence had to be provided to show the sale had been effected.
‘There were only affidavits from herself and her daughter and no financial evidence of the transfer.’
Sheriff William Wood has fixed a proof hearing for early next year.
Last week, The Scottish Mail on Sunday tried to contact Mrs Mckenzie at her Perth home but was told by a relative she had moved to ‘get away’ from Mr Bradley.
‘I am prepared to accept a reasonable offer’