Fashion designer, 53, dies years after £6.9m divorce battle with 'controlling' husband who installed spy cameras at home

A FASHION designer has died suddenly several years after a bitter £6.9million divorce battle.

Mum-of-two Tracey Ratcliffe, 53, was tragically found dead over Christmas as friends paid tribute to an 'absolute diamond'.

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Her cause of death has not been released and a coroner is investigating. MailOnline reports.

Her ex-husband Nicholas Ratcliffe, now 64, used CCTV cameras to spy on Tracey at their £1.3million home, a family court heard.

Tracey's lawyer Anne Hussey QC claimed Mr Ratcliffe had a “deplorable level of control” over Tracey.

The couple split in 2016 but continued to live under the same roof in Greater Manchester.

It was during this time, said Ms Hussey QC, that Mr Ratcliffe – a property magnate – began a 'creepy' campaign which the judge said was 'designed to drive the woman out of the family home'.

In addition to the CCTV footage, the court heard Ratcliffe locked the internal doors to restrict movement and left post-it notes on kitchen utensils saying “clean me”.

In 2018, the judge ordered him to leave the parental home and move to a rental home.

Two years later, Judge Bernard Wallwork ordered an equal division of a family fortune he believed to be around £6.9 million.

Ruling on the case, he said: 'This case is among the most bitter cases of financial damages I have ever dealt with.

'The bitterness and resentment were significant and permeated the proceedings.

“A closed circuit television was installed in the house to monitor the woman's movements.

“Locks were placed on the internal doors and the man did not object when I expressed concern that Post-it notes were occasionally left in the kitchen with messages such as 'clean me', 'unsanitary' and so forth.

“It appears to me that these actions were oppressive, given the woman's fragile mental health.”

As well as obtaining the £1.3 million house and valuable shares, he ordered Tracey to be paid £1.2 million in cash instalments.

She would be left with as much liquid cash as possible because of Mr Ratcliffe's “cunning” during the divorce proceedings, the judge said.

But Mr Ratcliffe appealed and in 2021 the ruling was overturned after a court accepted his wealth was 'exaggerated'.

The case was ordered to be retried, but it is unknown whether a final settlement was reached before Tracey's death.

The mother-of-two was a well-known figure selling vintage clothes at Altrincham Market.

Honoring her funeral last Friday, traders remembered Tracey's “infectious laughter” and “impeccable sense of style”.

They added: “She brought happiness and humor into our lives, and she had an incredible collection of vintage clothing that, thanks to her contributions, gave our neighborhood a unique look.”

Tracey met Mr Ratcliffe at university in 1992 and they married two years later.

He made his money as a consultant in finding potential locations for Sainsbury's supermarkets.

A spokeswoman for Manchester South Coroner's Office said: “A coronial investigation into the death of Ms Ratcliffe is underway.”

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