A TIMBERSCOMBE woman who devoted years of her life to the restoration of a 16th century mansion won £420,000 from her former lover at the High Court in London on Tuesday. Penny van Laethem, aged 63, did up grade two listed Caradoc Court, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, with kim Brooker after it was bought in his name in 1991 for £360,000. But, she told the High Court, he denied her an equal share of it when they split up. The enormous house, which stands on a site reputed to be the former home of Arthurian knight Caradoc Vraich Vras, is now worth £1.5 million with development land valued at a further £550,000. But Mrs van Laethem, of Knowle Lane, Timberscombe, said Mr Brooker, aged 48, refused to give her a fair share of Caradoc to reflect the financial and physical contribution she had made. The antiques dealer and interior designer said she sold her house in order to invest £200,000 in Caradoc and also spent hundreds of hours restoring the property, which was gutted by fire in 1986. And she claimed she was led to believe by Mr Brooker, who now lives in Caradoc with his new wife and her son, that she would always have an interest in the property. He alleged he had paid her off by buying her a £280,000 house and counter-sued her after alleging she had overstated the money she was owed at the time. On Tuesday, Mr Justice Lawrence Collins found in favour of Mrs van Laethem and said she was entitled to a total of £700,000, from which he deducted the £280,000 already received. The "reality" was, said the judge, that Mrs van Laethem had sold her house in 1994 and invested most of the proceeds of the sale into Caradoc in the belief a share of it would always be hers. It was Mrs van Laethem's case that Mr Brooker said Caradoc was better off in his name only because she already owned a property and may have to pay capital gains tax. Giving evidence, she had told the judge that Mr Brooker had always told her not to worry and said she was "the most secure person in the world" and she would always be entitled to a share of Caradoc. Describing Mrs van Laethem as "plainly unsophisticated in finance, property dealings and company matters", the judge said she was a more credible witness than her former lover and had relied on him to secure her position. He added that Mr Brooker was "more intelligent" than Mrs van Laethem and knew about inheritance tax and capital gains tax and was professionally advised. Mr Justice Collins found that, although Mr Brooker "always resisted" Mrs van Laethem's claim to a share of Caradoc, he "encouraged or induced her to believe that was only for tax reasons". "I have no doubt that Mrs van Laethem acted to her detriment by relying on the assurances," concluded the judge. The court heard that Mrs van Laethem and Mr Brooker met in April 1985 when she was married and he was living with his parents in Northamptonshire. They later became lovers and lived together at Caradoc, although it was in dispute as to how long their relationship lasted and how serious it was. Mr Brooker, said the judge, had a talent for joinery and design projects while Mrs van Laethem had an interest in furnishings and antiques. The pair of them began looking for a major restoration project and came across Caradoc, which is set in 18 acres and has planning permission for a further five cottages to be built. Mrs van Laethem said she spent almost every weekend between 1991 and 1996 working on the gardens at Caradoc, and Mr Justice Collins agreed she had devoted "a huge amount of time" to the project.