Scotland Yard says they are not treating Mr Young's death as suspicious

The designer and TV presenter said previously that bankruptcy 'killed him'

The heartbroken fiancée of a tycoon who died after falling from their £3million home and impaling himself on iron railings outside said today she was 'distraught at the loss of my best friend'.

Scot Young, 52, once one of Britain's wealthiest men, suffered horrific injuries after plummeting four storeys from a window of his luxury central London penthouse on Monday night.

His death came a year after the end of a six-year High Court divorce battle with his ex-wife Michelle, 49, who won £20million but claimed he had a hidden £400million fortune in offshore accounts.

Mr Young made a reported £2billion as a 'fixer for the super-rich', owning six mansions, a private jet and counted Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, Simon Cowell and Sir Philip Green as friends.

But the property magnate said he went bankrupt after a disastrous deal in Moscow and his American fiancée Noelle Reno, a reality TV star, said his loss of wealth had always 'killed him'.

Miss Reno, who appeared with Scot in Bravo's Ladies of London said today: 'I am distraught by the sudden loss of my best friend and ask that you give me the respect and privacy I need to grieve in peace.'

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Couple: Scot Young fell to his death on Monday and was engaged to Ladies Of London star Noelle Reno, pictured together on holiday in January, who said today she was 'distraught' after his death

Fall: Former millionaire Scot Young, pictured this year, went bankrupt after he made his fortune 'fixing' deals for the rich and famous, and has died after falling from his penthouse

Tragedy: Scot Young, pictured with fiancee Noelle Reno, fell to his death from their Marylebone flat. The tycoon was at the centre of one of Britain's most acrimonious divorce cases involving ex-Michelle Young (right), 49, who said today she and their daughters were 'devastated'

Mr Young's body was found by horrified residents in Marylebone on Monday afternoon. He had fallen 60ft onto the iron railings below his flat and police moved quickly to hide the distressing scene from onlookers

His ex-wife Michelle Young, who had children Scarlet, 21, and Sasha, 19, with Mr Young said today: 'I am devastated. I am with my daughters and we have been to hell and back.'

She has previously claimed her ex-husband had attempted suicide during their bitter divorce court battle, had been checked into the Priory Clinic in London for treatment and was sectioned twice.

In January last year Mr Young was jailed for six months for refusing to disclose full details of his wealth during divorce proceedings, in what a judge called 'flagrant and deliberate' contempt of court.

HOW SCOT YOUNG'S EX-WIFE WAS OFFERED £300M BUT ENDED UP WITH £20M IN 'MOCKERY' DIVORCE Scot Young's 11-year marriage to Michelle Young sparked one of the most bitter divorce battles of recent times and saw him end up in jail for contempt. Ms Young, right, the mother of his two children, called her ex-husband a man of 'no feeling' and claimed he hid his fortune to 'go off with a younger woman'. Following the split, a bitter battle for cash began and Mr Young offered his wife a £300million settlement in 2009. But the next year he claimed he was bankrupted by a disastrous deal and could not pay £27,500-a-month maintenance for his ex-wife and their daughters, Scarlet, 21, and Sasha, 19. The divorcee who attacked her £20million court settlement as a 'mockery' and her property magnate-ex was jailed for six months for failing to provide details of his fortune to his estranged wife. She also attacked her husband for cruelly forcing one of their daughters into state education. In one hearing, Mrs Young's legal team compared her husband's story with the plot of the 1980s comedy movie Brewster's Millions, in which a failing baseball player is told he will inherit 300 million dollars if he can spend 30 million of it in 30 days and have nothing to show for it. Later, a QC acting for his ex-wife said that while Mr Young pleaded poverty it seemed he was living a lifestyle 'consistent with considerable wealth'. He added: 'He is going from party to party with champagne glass in his hand and his current girlfriend, some supermodel or other, on his arm.' During one hearing, a judge heard he had once offered a £300 million settlement but Mr Young told the High Court the offer was 'flippant' and 'ridiculous'. In a written 'opening note', Mr Young said: ''(I am) ashamed to say, (I) stated that if Ronald Regan (sic) became the next US president (he was already dead), Jeremy Beadle (of You've Been Framed), walked through the door and the Tooth Fairy arrived, she could have the money.' The former couple battled in the courts for almost seven years and Ms Young insists her case exposes how people fall through the net in family law. She said at the time: 'I have made a stand for women. My case has exposed the woeful shortcomings of the family law system. 'I don't want to go through this for nothing, I want to see the law changed to protect women like me with children by men who conveniently find they suddenly have no assets when they want to go off with a younger woman. 'I think and hope this case is making history'. Advertisement

On Monday Mr Young fell 60ft on to the iron railings and police moved quickly to hide the distressing scene from onlookers.

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

Police are not treating his death as suspicious.

Neighbours said Mr Young had moved into the duplex apartment a few months ago with his American girlfriend Noelle Reno, 30.

His designer girlfriend is a star of the Ladies of London TV show, which also features former supermodel Caprice.

In July she said their home would be 'happy little home, for our happy little life' when the couple were interviewed.

Miss Reno was too upset to comment today, her spokesman said.



Gary Sutton 57, who was working nearby when Mr Young fell, said: 'It was a horrific scene. The police were visibly shocked – one said it was the worst thing he had seen on the job. It was all very distressing.'

Another witness said: 'The police had covered the body but I could see from behind that he was on the spike because I could see his feet dangling towards the basement floor.

'It was horrible, I had to divert my eyes.'

A friend who paused at the scene said today: 'He was a great man and a great father but he had been let down by the British legal system.

He added: 'We don't know what happened though, we don't know if it was suicide yet.'

Another friend, Sam Cash, left flowers with a note that read: 'Sorry it had to end this way. You will be forever remembered and live long in the hearts of those who knew you.'

A woman who said she was a friend of Scot Young's ex-wife Michelle called his death 'divine justice'.

The middle-aged woman, who refused to give her name, said: 'It's both good and bad news. Now she can finally go after his hidden assets.

'His money must be are somewhere. It will finally all come out now and the courts will be able to pursue them now and she will be able to cash in on it.

'She knew he had money somewhere yet he refused to give her what she was rightfully owed.

'Perhaps this is divine justice. Divorces are hard and she has suffered a lot.'

The well-dressed woman smiled as she took several photographs of the flat where Scot died.

She added: 'I'd seen him smoking several times. Maybe Scot fell out of the window while having a cigarette.'

Other people who visited the flat today were more respectful.

A family friend said: 'Scot Young was an idol and an inspiration for people who came from underprivileged backgrounds'.

The man, smartly dressed in a blue suit, said: 'He was a good guy at heart. He was definitely someone to look up to.

'He was an inspiration to anyone who wasn't from a privileged background. He was a self-made man. He's a good idol.

'He taught me to work hard and never give up that's why it came to me as a shock.'

When asked if his death was a result of his court battle, he said: 'There were other issues.'

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

Last picture: Scot Young was last seen with his fiancee Noelle, together left, with friends at a Christmas Party in London on November 27

Last tweet: Mr Young's fiancee's last tweet came a day before his death and talked about attending several Christmas parties in a row

Grief: A woman leaves flowers at the scene of Mr Young's death today, 48 hours after he fell 60ft from his flat

Mourner: This man was one of several people who came to lay flowers where Mr Young died

Tribute: This card left outside his £3m property said he would be 'forever remembered' by those who knew him

The three-bedroom property from which Mr Young fell is next door to the former home of Ringo Starr.

Flats in the square sell for more than £3million and fetch rents of up to £8,000 a month.

Scot Young had appeared in Bravo's reality show, Ladies Of London, alongside his fiancee, Noelle Reno, who is one of the stars.

The series, which has been on air since June, follows the cosseted lives of six London socialites including former model Caprice Bourret.

Young and Ms Reno, who had been together for five years, were engaged.

The reality star revealed this summer that she would not be getting married any time soon but had everything planned down to the last detail.

'I would not be capable of organizing a wedding at this moment,' she told OK Magazine.

'I'm used to running production and doing events for my businesses, so I don't think that I will freak out. Also my wedding doesn't need to be my most beautiful day. I'm kind of used to having my picture out there, I'm now on a freaking reality TV show, I don't need all of the attention.'

She added that the wedding was going to be 'one big festival party' with great DJs.

Young, pictured with his fiancée Noelle Reno, filming on the London Eye for her Bravo reality show Ladies Of London

Scot Young appeared on the Bravo reality show alongside his fiancée Noelle who was one of the leading Ladies of London

Mr Young built up a substantial business empire and owned assets including a home in London, a £21million Oxfordshire mansion and residences around the globe.

He was once said to be worth £400million and travelled the world by private jet.

But he claimed to have suffered a financial catastrophe in the years after the end of his 17-year relationship to Mrs Young, with whom he had two children.

The pair began their relationship in 1989 and married in March 1995, before separating in 2006.

Following the split, a bitter battle for cash began and Mr Young offered his wife a £300million settlement in 2009.

But the next year he claimed he was bankrupted by a disastrous deal and could not pay £27,500-a-month maintenance for his ex-wife and their daughters, Scarlet, 21, and Sasha, 19.

Over the next four years, Mrs Young grappled for what she saw as her fair share of her ex- husband's wealth.

She demanded half his assets, claiming he was worth 'a few billion pounds at least' but had hidden his cash in a series of secret investments.

In November last year, a High Court judge granted the pair a divorce and ruled that Mr Young would have to give his ex-wife a £20million settlement and pay her £5million legal costs.

Miss Reno, an entrepreneur and model who is originally from Seattle, stood by him after he was jailed. In an interview with the Mail earlier this year, she said the loss of her partner's wealth 'kills him'.

She added: 'He still can't deal with it. It has been so traumatic for him.' A spokesman for Miss Reno said she was too upset to speak about the tragedy last night'.

Scot Young and Michelle pictured on their wedding day at Chelsea Registry Office, London, in March 1995

Neighbours said Mr Young had moved into the duplex apartment a few months ago with his American girlfriend Noelle Reno (together left). He claimed to have suffered a financial catastrophe in the years after the end of his 17-year relationship to Mrs Young (right), with whom he had two children, called Scarlet and Sasha

After they separated in 2006, a bitter battle for cash began. Mr Young offered his wife (pictured) a £300million settlement in 2009

Handing down his ruling in the divorce case last November, Mr Justice Moor said he could find only £45million and ordered Mr Young to pay £20million within 28 days.

He then launched a scathing attack on the Youngs, saying he felt 'nothing but sympathy' for their two children, and criticising the warring couple for failing to be 'child-focused'.

Mr Justice Moor said: 'It is undoubtedly the most difficult financial remedy case I have ever come across.

'This case has been extraordinary even by the standards of the most bitter matrimonial breakdowns.

'Extremely serious allegations have been bandied around like confetti. In many respects this is about as bad an example of how to litigate as I have encountered.'

A Met Police spokesman said: 'A man, believed aged in his early 50s, was pronounced dead at the scene. The death is not being treated as suspicious at this time.'

Additional reporting: Tania Steere

How Britain's rich and famous including Simon Cowell and Sir Philip Green were dragged into Scot Young's divorce row

Scot and Michelle Young enjoyed a lifestyle known only by the world's wealthiest, globe-trotting by private jet between their vast homes.

Inhabiting a world few people can imagine, the couple mixed in a superleague of power players including Simon Cowell and Sir Philip Green but it all ended in the most bitter of divorces.

All this achieved by a man who grew up in poverty, starting life in a tenement block in Dundee.

Details of their fantastic riches were aired in court during six-and-a-half years of skirmishes with his wife.

Before their split, the couple lived in unimaginable luxury. They owned six mansions in Belgravia, Britain's most exclusive postcode, and the family home was £21million Wood Perry House in Oxfordshire, described as 'Buckingham Palace in miniature'.

Friends: Scot Young was friends with Simon Cowell and Sir Philip Green, both pictured last week, and his divorce battle revealed how the tycoon was lent money by rich friend when he claimed he became penniless

They also had a £3.5million beach house in Miami, a yacht in Monaco, employed a small army of servants and housekeepers, and dined in the finest restaurants.

They drove fabulous cars, including two Mercedes Gullwings worth £700,000 each. Mr Young had a £70,000 watch, and said jewellery he bought for his wife's 40th cost £150,000.

But the court heard how Mr Young said he fell on hart times and needed loans from famous friends.

Tragedy: Mr Young, who had been in a relationship with U.S. star Noelle Reno, died this week after falling from the fourth floor of his London home

In statement to the court, retail tycoon Sir Philip Green said he had loaned Mr Young £80,000 in 2008 'as a favour' to help pay for a Regent's Park flat for Mrs Young.

Restaurateur Richard Caring confirmed that he loaned Mr Young £50,000 as he had known him for many years and wanted to help him through his financial difficulties.

Mrs Young, 49, sensationally alleged that the two men, along with X Factor impresario Simon Cowell and the late Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky were involved in a conspiracy to hide her husband's assets.

Her bombshell claim to the High Court came as she pursued former property developer Mr Young for part of the billions of pounds she said he had hidden.

But Mr Young said he was left penniless after the collapse of a Moscow deal that cost him his entire fortune virtually overnight.

She even alleged her husband was a major shareholder with Cowell's American Idol show, and added: 'I am told I will never find out the truth because these people are wealthy and powerful.'

Mr Young, a former fixer to the super-rich, told the court his wife's claims were those of a 'fantasist' and rejected her accusation that his friends were 'sheltering' his money.

He had met Cowell fewer than five times and had 'never had any business with him', and it was 'laughable' that he had a secret shareholding American Idol.

Mr Young claimed he had 'probably bumped into Sir Philip in the street once and seen him outside a nightclub once' in two years. He said he had had no income since 2006 and was living 'with the support of friends'.