Scientist ‘trapped living with parents’ as she fights ex over ‘derelict’ £1m home

A scientist in a divorce fight with her multi-millionaire husband says she is trapped living with her parents while the £1 million marital home lies “derelict and ugly”.

Imperial College London immunologist Dr Katia De Filippo claims Luca Manetta has allowed the home in Shepherd’s Bush to become a “disgraceful” uninhabitable eyesore.

She is currently living in a rented property with her parents, she says, so they can care for her child while she works, and wants the marital home sold so that she can buy a new property of her own.

But Mr Manetta, who inherited a vast fortune from an uncle in Italy, insists the house simply requires building work, which has been left unfinished by the dispute, and says Dr De Filippo is entitled to nothing because he was the one who bought the property.

Central London county court heard how the couple split in 2016. They married 10 years previously while Dr De Filippo was studying for her PhD in London and Mr Manetta was living in Italy.

In 2008, he inherited his uncle’s property portfolio, including land, commercial premises and two apartment blocks, as well as more than £3.5 million, and says he used his own money to buy the four-bedroom house in 2009.

Dr De Filippo claims that the house was bought in their joint names because it was meant to be their family home. She claims that it now has no central heating, holes in the floors and is full of rubbish.

Her barrister, Sally Jackson, said: “This isn’t a matter of money anymore — it’s a matter of desperately needing somewhere to live.”

Mr Manetta, an electronics developer and property manager, said about £550,000 used to buy the home ultimately came from his uncle.

His barrister, Aidan Vine QC, said Mr Manetta took advice in 2009 about protecting his inheritance and was urged to buy property outside of Italy and transfer more than €500,000 into a joint bank account with his wife.

Giving evidence, Mr Manetta said he had been threatened in Italy and put the house in their joint names so his wife would inherit it if something happened to him. But he insisted the couple had only ever intended for him to be the sole beneficial owner.

Dr De Filippo asked Judge Michael Kent QC to rule that the home is jointly owned and should be sold to split the profits equally. The judge will give his decision on the case at a later date.