Inverness millionaire's ex loses money claim
The former partner of Inverness business man Alan Savage who sued him for loss of earnings has lost her claim.
Julie Zelent claimed her two-year relationship with the Orion boss left her "economically disadvantaged."
She originally tried to sue him for £500,000, but later reduced her claim to £219,500.
However, Sheriff Margaret Neilson said Ms Zelent "lacked credibility", finding Mr Savage, a former chairman of Inverness Caledonian Thistle, was not entitled to pay her anything.
Ms Zelent, who now lives in America, claimed for loss of earnings, employment benefits and pension rights.
Mr Savage welcomed an end to the matter. "I am pleased with the final result of the court case," he said. "After a stressful year for me and my family I can now get on with my life, leaving this experience behind me.”
The pair met on a flight from Edinburgh to London in June 2006 and Ms Zelent gave up her £54,000 a year job with the Royal Bank of Scotland to join him.
A six-day trial was heard at Inverness Sheriff Court.
In her recently published findings, Sheriff Neilson writes: "After careful and detailed consideration of the evidence I have concluded that she has deliberately tried to mislead the court in a number of ways.
"The pursuer's demeanour in the witness box was revealing. She was very keen to add her own gloss to events and was not content to restrict herself to answering questions, frequently adding disparaging and unnecessary comments about the defender.
"She went into the details of a relationship the defender had at one point with another woman. She tried to show him in a bad light whenever possible.
"She clearly lied in examination in chief on a number of issues and only admitted the lies when faced in cross-examination with information (openly available on the internet), which contradicted what she had said in chief.
"When asked why she had lied in her evidence, some of her explanations would have been laughable were the situation not so serious, involving considerable expense to the defender and to the public purse in terms of her legal aid certificate. She was very keen to blame everyone else for the position she was in."
In contrast she found Mr Savage a "generally credible and reliable witness".
Sheriff Neilson added: "Her motivation is known only to herself. Whether she is simply bitter at the defender's ending of the relationship and seeking revenge for the emotional distress caused to her or whether she saw the raising of the action as a means to benefit financially on the assumption that the defender would not wish to incur the expense and publicity of court proceedings is not clear."
Mr Savage has re-married since his relationship with Ms Zelent ended.
