A fashion consultant whose millionaire ex-husband’s ‘deplorable’ controlling behaviour was slammed by judges in their £6.9million divorce battle was found hanged at her home three days before Christmas, an inquest heard today.
The Battle She Faced
Property mogul Nicholas Ratcliffe, now 64, used CCTV cameras to spy on his ex-wife Tracey in a dispute branded ‘among the most acrimonious’ a court had ever seen.
In a ‘creepy’ bid to force her out of their £1.3million Cheshire marital home, he had also locked internal doors at to restrict her movements, and left Post-it notes on kitchen items saying ‘clean me’, it heard.
What Court Ruled
But in 2021 Appeal Court judges backed Mr Ratcliffe’s bid to overturn his ex-wife’s £3.45million pay-out after accepting his wealth had been ‘overstated’.
Tragically, the mother-of-two was found dead over Christmas, with the local coroner launching an investigation.
READ ALSO: Deadly house fire THAT claimed the lives of mom and 4 kids deemed ‘Murder-Suicide’
Investigation Into Her Death
Today a brief hearing at Manchester South Coroner’s Court in Stockport was told that Ms Ratcliffe was found hanged at her home on December 22 last year aged 53.
There were no suspicious circumstances, assistant coroner Andrew Bridgman told the inquest opening, which was not attended by any family or friends.
The location of her death was given as a semi-detached house in Sale, Greater Manchester which property records show she bought without a mortgage last May for £455,000.
Adjourning the hearing to a full inquest scheduled for June, Mr Bridgman said Ms Ratcliffe’s GP records and any interactions with mental health services would need to be disclosed.
Following her tragic and premature death, friends spoke of their devastation.
Describing her as ‘an absolute diamond of a friend’, they recalled her as ‘a wonderful person’ who was ‘always dressed to the nines’.
