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The most feared divorce lawyer in Britain
Fiona Shackleton left Exeter University with a third-class degree, then began working as a cook. How did she become the most feared divorce lawyer in Britain? On 17 March 2008, in London’s High Court, Heather Mills poured a jug of water over Fiona Shackleton’s head, transforming her trademark feathered Farah Fawcett hairdo into a slicked-back…
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Spectre of damning High Court judgment against Sheikh Mohammed hangs over Pinatubo and Newmarket
Should favourite win 2,000 Guineas behind closed doors, the sport is spared dilemma of how to react towards owner after alleged abductions. If the odds-on favourite Pinatubo wins this weekend’s 2,000 Guineas, coronavirus protocols will save racing from an awkward presentation. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum striding into the winners’ enclosure to collect the big…
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Family court battles will be shown online
Appeal hearings in high-profile divorce and childcare cases are to be streamed live online as part of a move by the government to make the process more transparent. Ministers have put a statutory instrument before MPs that would allow such cases in the Court of Appeal to be posted live on the internet as part…
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Charles Geekie, QC, who acts for Princess Haya, the former wife of Sheikh Mohammed
Charles Geekie, QC, at 1GC Family Law chambers, acts for Princess Haya bint al-Hussein, the former wife of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai. Following an unsuccessful appeal to the Supreme Court by Sheikh Mohammed, the High Court has published a fact-finding judgment that said he had kidnapped two of his daughters.
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Not even Dubai’s princesses are safe from repression
In a far cry from the usual dry legal ruling, the family division of Britain’s High Court upheld allegations about the abusive conduct of people acting for Dubai’s ruler. In doing so, it cast a spotlight on the United Arab Emirates’ sheer disregard for the rule of law — both within and outside its borders.…
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Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum of Dubai: six wives, 30 children and a 14-year reign of control
Dubai’s ruler has been exposed in court as a tyrant who imprisoned his own daughters. For years, UK officials have resisted questioning his behaviour. In a hotel drawing room in west London last year, a stately Beiruti matriarch — dressed in fur and dripping in diamonds — took a sip of her tea and looked…
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It’s a rancid sandpit run by a psycho with a taste for kidnapping. Welcome to Dubai!
Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum has only nine months left to realise his dream of making the United Arab Emirates “one of the best countries in the world by 2021”. He has a way to go. Right now it is 195th best in the world on my list of 196 countries and, frankly, it’s a toss-up…
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Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum: Met urged to launch inquiry into Dubai’s ruler
Scotland Yard is being urged to open a criminal investigation into the billionaire ruler of Dubai after a court ruled last week that he had kidnapped two of his daughters. Lawyers for Princess Latifa, who was abducted by men working for her father, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, are to write to Dame Cressida…
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Britain’s lucrative ties with the Gulf states have been tested by court shocks
The accusations against Sheikh Mohammed make uncomfortable reading for many, including the Queen and the Foreign Office. For many decades the British royals have acted as one of the UK’s most potent instruments of “soft power” in promoting close relations with the ruling families of the United Arab Emirates, other Gulf states and the Hashemite…
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Govt keeps mum after UK judge talks of ‘capture’ of Dubai princess by Indian commandos
Indian officials say London court ruling came in a ‘family dispute’ that does not involve international governments, defence ministry has ‘no information’. The government has chosen to keep mum over a United Kingdom court saying that Indian forces helped in the “capture” of fleeing Dubai princess Sheikha Latifa in 2018, with sources only saying it…