Lawyers for Paul McCartney say he will "vigorously" defend himself against allegations that he physically abused his estranged wife, Heather Mills McCartney.
Britain's Daily Mail newspaper on Wednesday reported details of an alleged court document filed by Mills McCartney containing accounts of mistreatment and drug use during the couple's four-year marriage.
"Our client will be defending these allegations vigorously and appropriately," law firm Payne Hicks Beach, representing Paul McCartney, said in a statement on Wednesday.
The 64-year-old rocker and 38-year-old anti-land mine campaigner announced their separation in May and have begun divorce proceedings in an increasingly acrimonious split.
The two have a three-year-old daughter, Beatrice.
Mills McCartney's spokesman, Phil Hall, described the divorce proceedings as "highly confidential" and said he could not confirm whether the document cited in the report was genuine. He said Mills McCartney had been "shocked" by the Daily Mail's story.
Savage attack
The newspaper did not reveal how it had acquired the document, which alleges that McCartney once attacked his wife with a broken wine glass, stabbing her in the arm and causing profuse bleeding. It also claims that he used illegal drugs and drank to excess.
The newspaper reported that the purported 13-page submission also alleged that McCartney had pushed his estranged wife into a bathtub while she was pregnant with their child.
It said the document, said to be filed by Mills McCartney in response to the former Beatle's divorce petition, lodged in July, also claimed McCartney had later objected to his partner breast-feeding their daughter.
The newspaper quoted the alleged court papers as saying McCartney had told his wife "they are my breasts."
It reported that the document alleged McCartney had grabbed his wife's neck and started choking her during a trip to the US in 2003 and on an earlier occasion pushed her over a coffee table.
Mills McCartney is reported to claim in the legal papers that late last year her husband forced her to cancel surgery for two months, as it interfered with their holiday plans.
No comment
Mishcon de Reya, the law firm representing Mills McCartney in the divorce, said it would not comment on "leaked or allegedly leaked documents."
It said it could not confirm whether or not a response to McCartney's divorce petition had been lodged with a court.
"Mills McCartney stands by everything that has been filed at court on her behalf and intends to prove its truth in due course should this be necessary," the law firm said in a statement.
Corroboration
Reporters obtained a document that appeared to be a divorce court filing, containing details that matched those reported by the Daily Mail. The authenticity of the document could not be confirmed.
Paul McCartney's law firm said the musician "would very much like to respond in public and in detail to the allegations made recently against him by his wife and published in the press but he recognizes, on advice, that the only correct forum for his response to the allegations made against him is in the current divorce proceedings."
"Our client is saddened by the breakdown of his marriage and requests that his family is allowed to conduct their personal affairs out of the media spotlight for the sake of everybody involved," the statement added.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was