Beautician body-shamed by millionaire dad for years wins £125k payout for boob job after being cut out of will
A BEAUTICIAN body-shamed by her millionaire dad for years has won a £125,000 payout to spend on a boob job after being cut from his will.
Pirate radio “legend” Roger Howe died aged 55 in March 2020 after falling from a window.
He left behind a £1,447,000 fortune, part of which was tied up in his radio engineering company BW Broadcast FM, but left his only child Jenna Howe out of his will.
A court heard Roger had a “toxic” relationship with his daughter and consistently “belittled” her when she was growing up.
The broadcaster also “called her names” and taunted her in a “nasty” way about her weight.
As a result, the 37-year-old developed bulimia and body dysmorphia and later became estranged from her dad.
When he made his last will in 2017, Roger left his fortune to his mum, Rosina, his sister, Tina Tucker, and his two nephews, Ross and Jamie Tucker.
The dad wrote Jenna out of the will and was “adamant” that she shouldn’t receive a penny – branding her “lazy, grabbing and bad to my parents”.
But Jenna has now been awarded £125,000 after taking the battle to Central London County Court.
The sum includes a £75 weekly “maintenance” payment for the next ten years to help Jenna get by and help wipe her debts and pay for replacement breast implants.
The court was told Jenna’s life had been ruined by Roger’s heartless neglect and cruelty throughout her childhood.
She suffered with drug addiction and is currently “destitute”, it was said.
Judge Mark Raeside said: “Throughout her life, she has been self-conscious about her body and I am quite satisfied that this should be paid for by the estate.
“She has had a body problem ever since she was a young child”.
The court heard that during Jenna’s childhood and teens, Roger consistently “belittled” his only child and taunted her about her weight.
On occasions, the “disciplinarian” dad would weigh his daughter in front of their lodger and even when she developed an eating disorder, he continued to “pick on her”.
Jenna said: “He was really nasty about my weight and talked about me calling me names, and was horrible to me.”
The court heard Jenna suffered with body dysmorphia, which caused her to get breast implants.
Her lawyer James McKean argued she should be awarded the cash to cover the cost of more surgery to replace these implants.
Jenna also told how her life “spiralled out of control” after she began taking drugs and that her dad did little to help her get back on track.
She said she had tried to reconcile with her dad over the years as she “longed for a relationship” and was badly rocked by his death.
Giving his ruling, the judge said: “The view I have come to is that, in the exercise of my discretion, a lump sum award should be made in her favour from the estate to meet Jenna’s present and future financial needs in light of her mental condition, which has driven most of those needs.”
He described Jenna’s finances as “precarious,” saying she still has heavy debts left over from a previous court clash with her relatives.
The effects of her mental conditions have made work almost impossible, the judge ruled as he said she now deserves a weekly income of £75 to keep her head above water.
He added: “She is only just getting by and has a right to maintenance.
“This is a case where she wishes to improve herself and this will no doubt help.”
Roger Howe was known as a technical genius in the field of radio transmitting equipment and was just eight years old when he built his own transistor radio.
By 15, he was building complex AM and FM transmitters, which he continued to develop throughout his time in school and into the beginning of his career.
At just 16 years old, he was making rigs for London pirate radio stations, including JFM, a specialist jazz funk station.
In his later years, he used his expertise to build a successful business which exported equipment all over the world and made him a millionaire by the time of his death.