London: Dubbing it a “deliberate” act that was intimidating, a senior British judge has ruled that Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum team’s attempt to buy an expensive property for sale in Britain that was overlooked his former wife’s rural estate.
According to the reports, agents acting for Mohammed had almost finalised the deal of exchanging details on the 30 million pound Parkwood estate when his team decided to back off the deal.
The matter came to light after Mohammad’s ex-wife, Jordanian Princess Haya bint al-Hussein, had approached the High Court in London to raise this matter as part of a legal battle.
Judge Andrew McFarlane, President of the Family Division in England and Wales observed that there can be no doubt that this was a deliberate behaviour, both in negotiating a purchase and then withholding information about it. “By those who are acting for the benefit of the Dubai ruling family, will have had the effect of intimidating this mother to a very marked degree,” he said in a published ruling.