Lawyers for Heather Mills McCartney announced Tuesday that she is pursuing legal action against three British publications, the Daily Mail, the Evening Standard, and The Sun, over reporting they described as false and damaging in connection with her divorce from Paul McCartney.
Her legal team, Mishcon de Reya, said Mills McCartney, 38, had been hounded by photographers who followed her by car and gathered outside her home, with no apparent regard for her safety or that of her two-year-old daughter, Beatrice.
The firm also denied reports that McCartney had offered his wife a settlement of 30 million pounds (about 56 million dollars), stating that no offer of any amount had been made. The 64-year-old musician's fortune is estimated at 825 million pounds.
The divorce received intense press coverage after Mills McCartney's legal filings were apparently leaked, with the documents alleging physical violence and punitive behavior by McCartney during their four-year marriage. He vowed to defend himself vigorously. The couple married in 2002 and announced their separation in May 2006.
Britain's Press Association, which received an anonymous fax of the leaked papers, declined to publish the contents after being unable to verify the document. Investigators believe the fax originated from a small shop in central London.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in October 2006, in its own words.