Businessman denies sex with club prostitutes

A BUSINESSMAN who is suing his former wife for slander yesterday admitted visiting clubs in Amsterdam where prostitutes were on offer, but insisted that he had only gone for drinks or roulette.

David Wraith, 48, has claimed in the High Court that his former wife, Shirley, 49, had waged a 'ferocious campaign of spiteful vengeance' against him after their divorce in 1988 after 22 years of marriage. They have a son Jonathan, 20.

Mr Wraith, a former chairman of Scunthorpe United Football Club who runs a business making portable cabins, has told the court his former wife had telephoned his friends, fiancee and business colleagues claiming he had infected her with venereal disease which he caught in Amsterdam.

He claims she also told people that he was guilty of insider dealing and stealing the proceeds of the sale of their Majorcan property and her Porsche car. Mr Wraith also says that she made repeated silent telephone calls to his home at Brampton, Lincolnshire. He is seeking damages, including aggravated damages, for slander and nuisance.

Mrs Wraith, of Scotter, near Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, claims that her allegations were true, and denies alleging dishonesty.

Yesterday, on the second day of the trial, her counsel, Gilbert Gray QC, cross-examined Mr Wraith for more than three hours.

At one stage yesterday, as Mr Wraith denied displaying any symptoms of venereal disease, his former wife burst into tears, while his second wife, Kathy, and his son sat next to each other gazing up open-mouthed at him in the witness box.

The case continues today.