A FOOTBALL star who went from earning millions to going bankrupt and claiming benefits has won a court battle over a home.
Ex-Premier League striker Marcus Bent has fought off bankruptcy trustees who tried for four years to seize a London property.
They said the former striker – who played for top-flight sides Everton, Brentford, Crystal Palace and Wolves – owned the house and should hand it over to help pay off debts.
Yet 45-year-old Bent, who went bankrupt in January 2019, insisted it belonged to his 19-year-old daughter.
He bought it for her in 2006 and meant it to be held in trust for her until she turned 18, he told London’s specialist Insolvency and Companies Court.
Now judge Clive Jones has ruled in his favour, London’s Evening Standard newspaper reported.
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He said Bent’s estimated debt following bankrutpcy proceedings brought by tax officials was “a couple of million”.
But Mr Jones said the house “fell outside the bankruptcy estate” and that trustees administering the estate, had “no interest” in it.
Former England Under-21 international Bent, watching via videolink, told the judge after hearing the verdict: “We are very happy.”
His daughter is from a former relationship with ex-fiancee Kelly Clark which ended in 2006, the same year he got together with Hollyoaks actress and future Strictly Come Dancing star Gemma Atkinson.
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After they too split he later dated model and Celebrity Big Brother contestant Danielle Lloyd.
Bent earned up to £20,000 a week during his football career but endured a miserable fall from grace after retiring.
He turned to drugs and alcohol and also found himself with a criminal record after a police raid which saw him Tasered.
And despite earning an estimated £10m during his playing days, he struggled with his finances – culminating in bankruptcy in 2019.
He later told of being forced to claim Universal Credit benefits.
Bent, born in Hammersmith in west London, was banned from the roads for 32 months in March last year after being found four times over the drink-drive limit.
He pleaded guilty to driving his grey BMW X5 three-litre diesel on the A3 at Tibbet’s Corner in south-west London on February 27 last year.
Magistrates in Wimbledon rejected his excuse he had only had two glasses of wine the night before, describing his reading as one of the highest they had seen.
He was recorded at 134 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, whereas the the legal limit is 35.
Bent’s lawyer Scott Ewing told the court the ex-footballer was “remorseful” while outlining his financial woes.
Mr Ewing said: “He is not working at the moment, but does some football match commentary and recently was on Universal Credit.
“He has no income, save for a £20,000 return on an investment, and says he had depression that led to drug and alcohol issues in the past.”
Mr Ewing also described football as a “comfort blanket” for Bent, who struggled to cope after retiring and “went from having a high-profile, successful career to nothing”.
The lawyer added: “Unfortunately sycophants and leeches provided unregulated investment advice.
“He has now hit rock bottom, from where he’s looking up and there’s only one direction to go and that’s to give advice to others so they don’t fall into the same traps.
“It is a pity it has taken something like this for Mr Bent to get the assistance he needs.”
Bent had appeared in the same courthouse in 2016, being fined £385 for possessing cocaine at Chessington World of Adventures.
Earlier that year he received a suspended prison sentence for possessing cocaine and affray, after being Tasered by police arresting him at his home in Esher, Surrey.
His affray trial heard how he was high on cocaine when he ran at officers while wielding a meat cleaver and a kitchen knife.
He later insisted: “At no point was I ever going to take someone’s life. I called them because I was hallucinating, paranoid, terrified.”
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But he revealed it prompted him to go into rehab, including a spell helped by former England and Arsenal captain Tony Adams’ Sporting Chance clinic.
Bent’s other clubs during a 573-game, 113-goal career included Sheffield United – also now in the Premier League – as well as current Championship sides Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers, Ipswich Town, Leicester City, Middlesbrough and Queens Park Rangers.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
