A two-timing millionaire financier has won £120,000 compensation from his ex-partner after she banned him from their £1.6million weekend mansion with the woman she caught him in bed with.
Dr Chris Rowland bought nine-bedroom Tadmarton House near Banbury in Oxfordshire in 2009 and planned to use it as a weekend country retreat with eco-business executive Sharon Blades.
But in November that year, their relationship began to unravel after Ms Blades discovered the former City analyst in bed with another woman.
When she caught him with the love rival a second time at his London penthouse in 2011, Ms Blades issued a 'veto' banning Dr Rowlands from visiting Tadmarton House with the second girlfriend, a court heard.
The ban on weekending at Tadmarton House lasted six years from 2009 to 2015, when Dr Rowland then split with the other woman.
Last year, Dr Rowland and Ms Blades fought a court case over ownership of the Grade II-listed country mansion, with a judge ruling that they were equal owners and it must be split between them.
A judge awarded Dr Rowland £59,958 to compensate him for lost time after being banned from the property. However, appealed that sum, asking for the figure to be increased to £216,199.
He has now been awarded £120,000 at the High Court after Judge Milwyn Jarman found that the veto had meant Dr Rowland lost the use of a 'grand weekend and holiday home' for those years.
Dr Chris Rowland (left) and business executive Sharon Blades (right) battled in court over the ownership of their £1.6million mansion after he cheated on her with another woman
The court heard Dr Rowland and Ms Blades had been charmed by 24-acre Tadmarton House, which they planned to use as a holiday or weekend bolthole, and where Ms Blades said they even spoke of retiring.
The 'Italianate villa' - built in 1830 - is set on a hilltop and has captivating views over the surrounding countryside. Dr Rowland once thought of cultivating elephant grasses in the surrounding fields as a sideline.
But their 'dream' hit the rocks when she discovered he was seeing another woman in 2009.
Judge William Hansen, ruling on the ownership dispute in March, said Dr Rowland had carried on seeing both women after Ms Blades discovered his dalliance in late 2009, commenting: 'He then continued to see both for more than a year but in the early part of 2011, Ms Blades dropped in unexpectedly at his flat and found him in bed with his new partner.
Their relationship began to unravel after Ms Blades, pictured, discovered Dr Rowland in bed with another woman
'There was an altercation that resulted in Ms Blades accepting a police caution for assaulting the new partner and Dr Rowland accepting a restraining order preventing contact with either woman for weeks.'
In court Dr Rowland, 65, admitted carrying on seeing both women for several months and acknowledged he was 'not proud of that fact'.
'But I was emotionally attached to both women and each of them wanted me to choose between them, and I had real trouble
