Court told of flight to Majorca as
half a million was 'spirited away'
GRAEME Souness's ex-wife ''looted'' half a million pounds from their
joint bank account like ''a thief in the night'', the former Rangers
manager's counsel told the High Court yesterday.
Lord Williams, QC, said that Danielle Souness flew to Majorca after
she left Souness in November 1988 and ''spirited away'' #533,693 to an
account where he could not touch it.
Mrs Souness, 39, told Mr Justice Morland and the jury that she asked
her father to remove the money because Mr Souness and his solicitor were
on their way to the island to do the same thing.
''I hadn't got a home or bank account except for that one. Those were
my only means. We had not yet agreed a settlement.''
She added: ''Graeme came in to do the same thing five minutes after my
father -- he was furious.''
Mrs Souness, who was divorced from her 42-year-old former husband last
year, was giving evidence on behalf of the People newspaper, which is
fighting his claim for ''massive'' damages over a story which branded
him ''tight-fisted'' and a ''dirty rat''.
In the May 1993 interview, for which she received #15,000, she alleged
he ordered her, their sons Fraser and Jordan, and adopted daughter
Chantelle, to leave the #1m Surrey home he had provided for them after
the marriage split by Christmas Eve 1992 .
She also claimed he refused to pay the boys' school fees, and that she
was living on handouts from her parents.
Mrs Souness denied Lord Williams's assertion that she ''ducked and
dived constantly'' when it came to answering questions about financial
matters and her ex-husband.
Publishers MGN Ltd deny libel and say the story about Mr Souness, of
Mere, Knutsford, Cheshire, is true.
Asked if Mr Souness had behaved like a ''dirty rat'' to Chantelle, Mrs
Souness's 20-year-old daughter by her first marriage, whom he adopted,
she agreed he was very generous to her.
Lord Williams said Mr Souness paid for her to go to Millfield, one of
the dearest schools in the country; bought her a horse called Tickled
Pink for #20,000; horse boxes for #30,000; driving lessons; a #10,000
car with a special number plate and portable phone; an open account at a
saddlery; a clothing allowance; horse-riding training at #150 per week
plus #50 a week pocket money; and made alterations to his home so that
she had a separate entrance.
Asked why she had not mentioned this ''extraordinary generosity'' to
the People, Mrs Souness, of Penhouse Close, Bramhall, Cheshire, said her
ex-husband had sold the lot while Chantelle was staying with her.
Lord Williams said Mr Souness had sold the horse because it would have
been too hot for it in Majorca, and the car because it was a right-hand
drive, and would not have been safe abroad.
Asked if she had told the People this, Danielle replied: ''No, but
neither did I talk about his treatment of Chantelle later on.''
She said she did not want to explain herself or bring her daughter
into it.
She denied she was pleased with the article, or that it was written
out of spite.
''I thought I had the right to tell my side of the story. But there's
no satisfaction in having to publicly state things which are private.''
She claimed she had to sell her jewellery to pay her bills.
In 1993, she sold her engagement ring to her father, who also bought a
#10,000 ruby ring which Mr Souness had given her.
She also sold a bracelet to her brother for #1500, and sold her gold
chains for #700.
''If Graeme had helped me, selling them wouldn't have been a
priority.''
Mrs Souness said the People's story was truthful if not entirely
accurate.
Asked if she used the phrase ''dirty rat'' to describe her ex-husband,
she said: ''Not in those words, but along those lines.''
She rejected Lord Williams's assertion that it was a ''pack of lies,
untruths and distortions''.
''If you take the article as a whole it's what I felt. When we were at
Norton Farm, I felt that for two years he'd put me through hell.
''I still think the general gist of the article is correct.''
Re-examined by Mr George Carman, QC, for the People, she said: ''To my
mind, it was a fair picture -- and that has remained my belief.''
The hearing was adjourned until today when counsel will make their
closing speeches to the jury.
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