Divorce couple criticised for 'grotesque' ?1.5m legal bill

A couple whose divorce case has cost £1.5 million in lawyer's fees have been lambasted by their presiding judge.

Jim and Kim Moore married in 1998 and separated five years later, but so far the only decision reached in the case is that it will be held in London.

They are fighting over their £135 million marital assets and Mr Moore wanted the case to be heard in Spain, where he has lived since the couple moved to the country in 2003.

Their divorce was granted by the Spanish courts and Mrs Moore, who now lives in the UK with the couple's three children, was offered £6 million plus property assets - which she rejected.

Subsequently she made a successful application to the High Court for the fight over the couple's fortune to be heard in the UK.

Lord Justice Thorpe commented: "An extraordinary feature of the present case is the parties have spent about £1.5 million in legal fees.

"We do not know whether this lamentable and grotesque waste of family resources is the result of the intransigence of one of the parties or because the husband hopes that the Spanish court ... will misapply English law to his benefit."

Mr Moore, 46, is the managing director of property firm Inside Track.