Top UK barrister faces jail in Croatia amid bitter international divorce battle

Top UK barrister faces jail in Croatia amid bitter international divorce battle Representing himself at the High Court Marc Brittain told a judge: ‘They want to bang me up...I'm not looking forward to three years in a Croatian prison’ - Bookmark A top English barrister is facing jail in Croatian after being accused of trying to strangle his wife amid a bitter international divorce battle. But chancery law specialist Marc Brittain has branded his ex Tamara Katavic a "psychopath" and a "liar" as he fights to avoid extradition. The pair were married for 15 years and had a single son, spending their lives both in England, where he had a high-flying career at the bar, and in her native Croatia. But the marriage ended in 2021, sparking a mammoth series of legal disputes in both the English courts and in Croatia. The former couple are fighting over properties and the alleged "dishonest appropriation" by Ms Katavic of £85,000 from his bank account, while she has accused him of owing her £60,000 in maintenance payments. But most seriously, Mr Brittain, 65, of Chiswick, west London, is now facing potential extradition to face a criminal trial - and possibly three years' jail - in Croatia after she accused him of years of "domestic abuse." The dispute emerged in a flurry of court hearings in recent months, with the pair fighting in the High Court in London, and Mr Brittain appearing before magistrates as he bids to avoid extradition. Representing himself at the High Court, he insisted he had done nothing wrong, branding his ex a "liar" and "psychopath" and telling a judge: "They want to bang me up...I'm not looking forward to three years in a Croatian prison." During the civil court hearing last week, Mr Brittain told Mr Justice Morris that the couple had a tempestuous relationship, with at least two separations and police called on numerous occasions after arguments. Their final split came in December 2021, he said, when he returned home from a run at their then home in Croatia to find that she had "cleared" his bank account. He told the judge £85,000 - consisting of a Covid-19 Bounce Back loan and rental income from a Camden property of his - had gone. He said he was angry and admitted threatening to cut up clothes, but "didn't put a hand on her" and denied the claims she later made to police that he then put his hands around her throat. "I was taken completely by surprise when, on December 3, 2021, she had me arrested in the evening, having left the house, on a charge that I tried to strangle her," he said. "On that very same day, I discovered that she had cleared my bank account. Having cleared my account and I having confronted her, she knew she had to get rid of me. "She was seen by a doctor in the hospital with the police. I have seen a copy of the report. The doctor found no sign of any injury on Tamara." Mr Brittain said he was arrested and held in custody for "a number of days," before being released, but with his passport confiscated for seven months. He claimed he had later learned that his wife was living a "double life," seeing other men and running a concierge business he didn't even know about. The split, which resulted in divorce in 2024, led to matrimonial proceedings in Croatia and England and the barrister being charged in Croatia with a number of counts of domestic abuse, including the strangulation claim. But it also led to a claim by him in the High Court for return of the £85,000 she took, as well as a First-tier Tribunal claim to a share of a London flat she owns. He told Mr Justice Morris he was bringing "serious allegations of fraud," and that they had each been assessed by a psychologist in Croatia, with the resulting report saying she was "incapable of telling the difference between truth and a lie" and the expert "opining that she is a mild psychopath." "I have not committed one act of domestic violence against Tamara," he said, adding, "she isn't able to call one single witness to say I have even raised my voice towards her." The case was in court for an application by Mr Brittain for disclosure of Ms Katavic's complete bank statements, which he said would show her to have lied when she said had used most of the £85,000 on family expenses. "It will show her to be what the Croatian psychologist says her to be - a psychopath," he said, urging the judge to order disclosure of the statements so he could use them in his money claim against her and in his fight against extradition. A finding of fraud would be "very important to my defence in the extradition proceedings and in the criminal proceedings in Croatia," he said "If I get sent back, they want to put me in prison for three years for something I haven't done," he told the court. "This woman is thoroughly dishonest. She seeks to manipulate, and she has succeeded in manipulating the Croatian authorities. "She will stop at nothing even when faced with incontrovertible truths." Representing herself however via a video link from her home in a village near Rovinj, in Croatia, Ms Katavic pressed on with her claims of domestic abuse and denied "stealing" any of his money. "I deny the allegations he is saying about me living a double life or taking the money or inventing that he attacked me," she told the judge. "He tried to strangle me. He was violent to me, throwing the clothes everywhere, telling me he would put the house on fire." She said Mr Brittain had been in full control of their finances, but that the money that went into her own account was on his request and went on family spending or was repaid. "There's no evidence that Mr Brittain didn't know about these arrangements," she said. "My position is I don't owe him money. It was during the marriage. I had no say, I was a homemaker. I couldn't work. Although I did study a lot in England, I wasn't allowed to work so I had to rely on my rental income. "During the marriage, he was in control of the finances. We never had a joint bank account. "The former matrimonial home, a four bedroom house in Chiswick, is in his sole name. The family car was always in his name. "I have two investment properties, which rental income I had to use during the marriage because Mr Brittain was very frugal with family finances." She said she was accusing him of "coercive and controlling conduct" and owing her £60,000 in maintenance, and asked the judge to stay his civil court claim to the £85,000, pending the end of their divorce court case later this year. Giving judgment on that part of the tangled dispute, Mr Justice Morris refused Mr Brittain's application to see her unredacted bank statements and stayed his claim to the money so that the family court proceedings can end. "Each party makes extremely serious allegations of misconduct, lies, fraud and deception against the other," he said. "It's fair to say that relations between the two are somewhat heated." Mr Brittain's fight against extradition to face trial in Croatia is ongoing, with a judge at Westminster Magistrates' Court today hearing that he is suffering from a dangerous heart condition. A further hearing of his extradition case will take place at a later date.