Towel tycoon is suing his SON in £2m mansion battle

A towel tycoon is suing his son in a tug-of-war over a £2 million mansion they each say belongs to them.

Michael Parker has already ‘spent ruinously’ on a £2 million divorce battle along with his former spouse Barbara.

Now he’s battling his son Thomas Parker-Bowyer, 30, within the High Court over a seven-bedroom unfold within the Buckinghamshire village of Bourne End.

Mr Parker, 60, lived on the ranch-style house, valued at as much as £2.65 million, till 2019 when it was signed over to his son.

But Mr Parker, who offered luxurious towels to high resorts equivalent to The Dorchester in London, claims he signed the home over solely on the premise that he had a proper to manage it throughout his lifetime.

Towel tycoon Michael Parker (pictured) is battling his son Thomas Parker-Bowyer, 30, within the High Court over a seven-bedroom mansion

The £2.65million ranch-style house is located within the Buckinghamshire village of Bourne End.  The mansion is in two acres of land and has eight bogs, a cinema and a swimming pool with adjustable ground top, plus a fitness center and a bar

Mr Parker-Bowyer, who needs to promote the home, says his father ‘gifted’ it to him in return for paying off the mortgage.

Mr Parker was a property developer earlier than uniting with then-wife Barbara in supplying towels sourced from Turkey.

The disputed mansion is in two acres of land and has eight bogs, a cinema and a swimming pool with adjustable ground top, plus a fitness center and a bar. The court docket in London heard the conflict centres on a deal between father and son in 2019 after Mr Parker moved to his different home Babs Park, named after ex-wife Barbara Cooke.

Mr Parker admits he transferred the home to his son. ‘But the concept was that Mr Parker would have persevering with use and occupation of the property,’ mentioned his barrister Gavin McLeod, with Mr Parker additionally aiming to finally cut back his property’s inheritance tax liabilities.

But Mr Parker-Bowyer, who as soon as labored along with his dad, insists he merely agreed to purchase his father out of the property as he was so closely mortgaged he risked foreclosures.

Mr Parker-Bowyer’s barrister Piers Digby mentioned he used £200,000 financial savings and a £1.2 million mortgage to repay his father’s mortgage, along with his father gifting him the remaining fairness.

Mr Parker is suing his son on the premise {that a} ‘constructive belief’ was created by the 2019 switch, giving him the correct to a life curiosity within the disputed property.

Son Thomas Parker-Bowyer (pictured) arriving on the High Court along with his spouse Kimberley. Mr Parker signed the home over to his son in 2019. However, they’re now locked in a court docket battle as a result of Mr Parker-Bowyer needs to promote the home

Yesterday Deputy Master John Linwood refused to dismiss Mr Parker’s declare, saying the proof ought to be heard at a full trial.

Mr Parker beforehand made headlines over his divorce battle with Barbara Cooke and an insurance coverage declare. In a listening to over the latter, a choose discovered that on the steadiness of possibilities he had organized for an arson assault on Ms Cooke’s former house in Farnham Royal, close to Windsor, in a failed rip-off.

Dismissing the insurance coverage declare over the blaze again in 2012, Mr Justice Teare mentioned: ‘There isn’t any credible rationalization for the fireplace on the proof aside from it was set by individuals on the course of Mr Parker.’

When the divorce case got here earlier than the High Court in 2018, Mr Justice Cohen mentioned that Mr Parker had ‘wantonly blown’ £918,000 in authorized prices on the fireplace harm declare, including: ‘Thus, in whole, the husband and spouse have spent over £3 million in prices on litigation they’ve initiated.’ In the divorce, Mr Parker agreed ‘by way of gritted tooth’ to give up 50 per cent of firm shares to her. She was ordered to pay him £800,000.