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Grace accused of wrecking flat
By Robert Mendick Last updated at 09:12am on 16.08.06
Pop star Grace Jones is being taken to court
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Pop star Grace Jones is being taken to court for allegedly damaging her former London home.
Jones is accused of causing "wilful" damage to the £1.5 million apartment in Chelsea Crescent, part of the prestigious Chelsea Harbour development.
Until February Jones was a tenant at the two-bedroom flat in the complex, which is also home to Robbie Williams and Michael Caine.
A writ includes a demand for £168 for replacement of cutlery over the allegation that several spoons "had been blackened" on the underside, apparently on account of having been held in a flame.
Jones is accused of owing more than £5,600 rent and damage totalling more than £10,000.
In all, the home's owners, John and Rosalind Preston of Axminster in Devon, are demanding £16,737.26 from the pop divaturned-Hollywood actress. Her agent denies the allegations.
Jones, 58, moved into the flat in November 2003. She was paying about £40,000 a year rent. But when she moved out, the landlords claim to have uncovered widespread damage.
The claim, seen by the Evening Standard, states: "The defendant failed to deliver the property in a tenable state.
Many of the fixtures and fittings were either missing, broken or rendered unusable as a result of being impregnated with cigarette smoke.
"The claimants incurred further costs in having to change the locks because the defendant failed to return the keys." The owners also argue Jones owes £1,762 in legal fees and £118.50 for the lock change.
The claim was issued in Central London County Court on 18 May but, so far, solicitors actingfor Mr and Mrs Preston have failed to track down the singer.
Jones, who began her career as a model and counts Kate Moss among her friends, is engaged to Viscount Wimborne, who inherited £30 million in 1993.
Jones has been married three times and is known for her volat i le behaviour, most famously hitting chat show host Russell Harty during the peak of her fame in the Eighties.
Last year, she was thrown off a Eurostar after being accused of assaulting a train manager, an allegation she strongly denied.
Jones filed for bankruptcy in 1992 with debts of more than £700,000.
In New York, Jones's agent Michael Schweiger said if the flat had been left in a state of disrepair he would have known.
He said: "It sounds like rubbish to me. She would have mentioned it to me.
"I have never heard of any problems with that flat. She would not have left it in a mess...as far as I know she left there in good standing."
Asked about the "blackened" spoons, he said: "That all sounds a little bit weird, that sounds a bit strange to me. If a spoon was dirty you would just put it in a dishwasher."
Former Chelsea player Enrique de Lucas Martinez lived in the flat before Jones moved in.
