Britain’s bitterest divorce: Barrister’s artist ex-wife who says she was left on benefits loses epic 16-year battle for more money after judge called her ‘vindictive and self-absorbed’

A top barrister has won a fight to block his ‘nasty, vindictive and self-absorbed’ artist ex-wife’s ‘vexatious’ court fight for more divorce cash, after 16 years of ‘furious litigation’.

KC Jason Galbraith-Marten, 57, and his Australian painter ex Catherine de Renée, have been battling in divorce courts in the UK and Australia since their two-and-a-half-year marriage failed in 2009.

Ms De Renee, 44, who specialises in ‘sensual’ female portraits, which she says create a ‘mood filled with drama, intensity and lingering eroticism,’ was unhappy with a financial settlement reached in Australia, in which she was handed £72,500 of the marital assets.

She said she was left relying on benefits, while her millionaire barrister ex continued living in their £1.6 million home in Fulham with his new partner.

In the 16-year battle judges have described her as ‘nasty, vindictive and self-absorbed’ after she made a series of false allegations against her ex including attempted murder and attacks on her cat. 

The painter brought an unsuccessful bid to get her payout upped before UK divorce judges in 2016, but after moving to London the following year, she has been continuing her fight ever since, focusing on the maintenance he is paying for their teenage daughter.

She succeeded in getting monthly payments upped from £1,315 to £2,684 in December 2022, but that was cut again to £1,960, subject to variations, from April 2024 after Mr Galbraith-Marten brought the case back before a judge again.

Now the barrister has defeated his ex’s bid to reopen the long running court war and secured a two-year extention to a civil restraint order, banning her from suing him on ‘vexatious’ or ‘unmeritorious’ grounds.

Catherine De Renee, 44, who specialises in ‘sensual’ female portraits, was described as ‘vindictive’ by the judge

In 2018, years after the financial settlement in Australia and with both former partners living in London, the KC was ordered by the UK divorce courts to pay child maintenance of £1,315 per month, with the pair wrangling over the monthly amounts ever since.

‘There is a very lengthy history to this case,’ Mr Justice Mostyn said of the pair in 2022. 

‘Proceedings between the parties began in Australia in March 2009, when their daughter was merely 15 months old. Furious litigation has continued ever since, both in Australia and England.’

In 2019, Ms De Renee was first banned by a judge from bringing further actions against her ex in the English courts without permission, having made numerous ‘fabricated’ false allegations against her ex

These ranged from ‘attempted murder’ to ‘attacks on [her] cat’.

Mr Justice Cobb, in a December 2023 judgment, said: ‘[The mother] has spent all of [her daughter’s] life putting her own warped sense of reality before any care or consideration of [her daughter’s] best interests. 

‘She has come across during these proceedings as nasty, vindictive and self-absorbed.’

The 2019 order was extended in 2022, but expired late in 2024.

With a number of applications to the court from his artist ex waiting in the wings, Mr Galbraith-Marten this month applied to have it extended for another two years, taking it into 2027, by which time his daughter will be over 18.

Allowing the husband’s application, Mr Justice Cobb said: ‘The depressing background to this application is… that the parties have been engaged in litigation in England and Australia in relation to financial matters on and off since early 2009.

 The judge said that the order, which means Ms De Renee would need a judge’s permission to sue her ex husband again over their divorce, will remain in effect until 23:59 on 14 April 2027

Ms De Renee said she was left relying on benefits due to her initial payout, while her millionaire barrister ex continued living in their £1.6 million home in Fulham (pictured)

‘Ms De Renée has been subject to an extended civil restraint order (ECRO) continuously since October 2019.

‘When renewing the ECRO in 2022, Mr Justice Mostyn confirmed that Mr Galbraith-Marten needed “the maximum protection from prospective unmeritorious claims by [Ms De Renée]” and described Ms De Renée’s submissions to him at that time as “unfortunate litanies of invective” and “melodramatic and self-righteous”.

‘Mr Galbraith-Marten contends that, by her conduct since the last ECRO was made, Ms De Renée has shown little sign of letting up in her unwavering ambition to re-open the long-since-concluded matrimonial litigation.

‘I am satisfied that it is necessary for me to extend the ECRO for a further two years to protect Mr Galbraith-Marten from further vexatious proceedings against him and to protect the finite resources of the court.

‘In her submissions, Ms De Renée displayed her continuing fixation with Mr Galbraith-Marten’s alleged non-disclosure of financial information, going back – she told me – “more than two decades”.

‘She continues to believe that she was gravely wronged by Mr Galbraith-Marten in proceedings which were concluded in Australia, with both parties being represented, as long ago as 2009.

‘It is important to consider the context of this application and specifically the appalling litigation history which I have summarised above.

‘I bear much in mind in particular the number of failed applications issued by Ms De Renée over a number of years, and the multiple findings of her abuse of the court process.

‘For the reasons summarised above, I am satisfied that Ms De Renée has displayed, and continues to display, the type of persistent vexatiousness, even since the last ECRO was made, which warrants the making of this extended order.’

The judge said that the order, which means Ms De Renee would need a judge’s permission to sue her ex husband again over their divorce, will remain in effect until 23:59 on 14 April 2027.