Former footballer Marcus Bent wins second High Court battle over house ownership

Former footballer Marcus Bent has won a second High Court fight over the ownership of a house.

Mr Bent, who was declared bankrupt in 2019, was involved in legal action against the trustees of his bankruptcy over the ownership of the property in Epsom, Surrey, and whether it forms part of his estate.

The trustees had appealed against a ruling that the house belonged to his daughter, Aliyah Bent, who is now 20, arguing that the judge was wrong.

But in a judgment on Wednesday, Mr Justice Edwin Johnson dismissed the appeal, saying he was “completely unable to see how the judge went wrong in his analysis”.

Mr Justice Edwin Johnson said in his ruling that Mr Bent, who played as a striker for teams including Everton, Charlton Athletic and Ipswich Town, had debts that “are said to have been substantial” and that were “said to have amounted to a figure in excess of £2.2 million” at the end of 2021.

In July last year, Insolvency and Companies Court Judge Clive Jones ruled that the Epsom property “fell outside the bankruptcy estate” and trustees had “no interest” in it after Mr Bent told the court he had bought the house in 2006 and intended it to be held in trust for his daughter until she turned 18.

He represented himself at the two-day appeal hearing in June, with his former partner – Ms Bent’s mother, Kelly Clark – also in attendance.

Barrister Michael Horton KC, representing the trustees, said in written submissions that the property “was understood to be the only significant asset in the bankrupt’s estate”.

But Mr Justice Edwin Johnson rejected the trustees’ arguments, saying he could not see an “identifiable flaw” in Judge Jones’s ruling and that it was not an “unreasonable conclusion”.