Wife 'planned to take husband for every penny'

The second wife of a wealthy solicitor fighting over his £10million will was on the brink of a divorce before he died, the High Court heard today.

Yvonne Sherrington had been planning to take husband Richard "for every penny", the court was told.

Mrs Sherrington's counsel described the claims, made by builder and carpenter Chris Brown, as "wild accusations" by a close friend of Mr Sherrington's first wife, Gloria. But Mr Brown said: "I could see what was going on and I could read between the lines."

Yvonne Sherrington, 55, dressed in black, broke down in tears when asked about rows in the marriage by Elspeth Talbot-Rice, counsel for her husband's first wife.

She was asked about the number of times she would call off flights she was due to take with her husband. The court also heard Mr Sherrington still used to see his first wife in the mornings and at night.

Gloria Sherrington, 62, is supporting her three children's attempt to contest the will, made shortly before her ex-husband died in a car crash in 2001. She has said she believes he must have been pressured into signing it, leaving everything to his second wife and nothing to his children from his first marriage.

Yvonne Sherrington is fighting the legal action, insisting her husband approved and agreed every word of the will.

Today Mr Brown said there had been a change of atmosphere towards his work when the second Mrs Sherrington came on the scene. Her counsel Paul Teverson accused him of sitting around with his colleagues and "deciding there was going to be a divorce".

Mr Brown replied: "I could see it coming as things seemed to be going from bad to worse." He admitted Mr Sherrington had never discussed his private life with him.

The three children from the first marriage - Dahlia, 30, Donna, 27, and Ramon, 21 - have each received more than £50,000 from insurance policies since their father's death at 56, the court heard. Yvonne Sherrington said her husband made no specific mention of his children when they discussed his will. The court has heard that it was signed in five minutes as the couple rushed to catch a flight.

"We had five children and I considered that we were responsible for all of them together," she said. "It went without saying that if anything happened to him I would look after them."