Tycoon impaled in horrific fall from London penthouse

Scot Young, pictured with girlfriend Noelle Reno at a photography exhibition in London two weeks ago. Picture / Snapper Media

He was the multimillionaire who left the High Court in handcuffs after Britain's most acrimonious divorce battle.

But the dramatic life of Scot Young ended tragically after he plummeted four storeys from the window of his luxury London penthouse and impaled himself on iron railings.

Young suffered horrific injuries after falling 18m from his 3 million ($6.03 million) rented home in Marylebone on Tuesday. The Metropolitan Police said the death of the bankrupt property tycoon was not being treated as suspicious.

The 52-year-old's apparent suicide comes a year after he was jailed for six months at the conclusion of a bitter High Court divorce battle with his ex-wife for refusing to reveal details of his wealth.

Michelle Young, 49, won a 20 million payout after a six-year courtroom fight, but declared the sum a "disgrace". She insisted her ex-husband was a "fixer for the super-rich" and worth at least 2 billion. A judge ruled he had hidden 45 million from the court.

Michelle Young also disclosed that her ex-husband had previously attempted suicide during their court battle and had been checked into the Priory Clinic in London for treatment.

Friends of the financier, who was known to have been involved in a string of murky international business dealings, have expressed their shock. One man, in his 30s, said: "We don't know what happened though, we don't know if it was suicide yet."

Another friend, who said he got to know Young through one of his daughters, also said he found it hard to accept he would have taken his own life.

Firefighters had to cut through the railings with an angle grinder before the body could be removed.

Gary Sutton, 57, who was working nearby, said: "It was a horrific scene. The police were visibly shocked - one said it was the worst thing he had seen on the job."

Michelle Young, consoling the couple's two daughters, said: "We have been to hell and back."

Divorce lawyers said she still faced significant litigation if she wished to recover further assets from her husband's estate.

The son of a Dundee United footballer, Scot Young rose from a Dundee tenement block to prominence as a property developer and telecoms deal-maker. He was once said to be worth 400 million and travelled the world by private jet.

Young's rise began after he met Michelle in 1989 and tapped into her businessman father's connections. The couple entertained at lavish properties, including a 21 million nine-bedroom mansion in Oxfordshire and a 6 million beach house in Florida.

At the end of 2006, they separated after 11 years of marriage and a bitter battle began. The collapse of a 2 billion property deal in Moscow had left Young with debts of 30 million, he claimed, and he was unable to make the payments.

According to one source who knew Young, he forged relationships with a number of unsavoury characters, including members of the Russian underworld. One British businessman told friends he had severed ties with Young because he had become a "bagman for the Mafia".

Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, who died in mysterious circumstances last year, was an investor in the Moscow property deal.

Young was ordered to pay his ex-wife 27,500 a month to cover rent and school fees for their daughters but claimed he could not meet the demands.

In 2009 Young was given a six-month suspended sentence for contempt of court for refusing to reveal his wealth. He allegedly continued to lead an opulent lifestyle with his girlfriend, 31-year-old Noelle Reno.

Michelle Young has received nothing of the 20 million due to her.

Young claimed he had been suffering from a debilitating depressive illness, which was accepted by the judge after seeing medical reports.

- Independent, Telegraph Group Ltd