A former Winkworth estate agent who went on to be a wealthy property developer and estate agency owner has been ordered to pay his former partner £1.4 million following a hearing at the High Court.

Nicola Oberman lived with Shaun Collins for 22 years and helped raise his children while he built up his property portfolio into a 40-property empire in London and Kent.

Their story is all the more remarkable because, during his early days working as a property developer, Collins (pictured) was given a six-month prison sentence during the late 1990s after being found guilty of false accounting.

The pair had only been dating for a year when Collins served his sentence and correspondence between the two shown to the High Court reveals how he wrote to her setting out plans for their future together and outlining the business they would build.

Split

The pair split in 2015 and agreed to share the 28 properties that had been registered in both their names, but Collins kept the 12 that were only in his name, which are mostly in the Thamesmead area of East London.

Oberman took Collins to court last year over these outstanding properties highlighting how she had sold her flat to help him get his property business off the ground. The original hearing was October but the judges’ decision has only now been published, finding in her favour.

Collins also runs a lettings agency near Woolwich, a legal service firm as well as the property development firm, Bluegen.

Read more about High Court decisions.